Sandor Kopitz
Staff Writer
At the Homecoming game on Oct. 8, the Mira Costa Mustangs football beat the Newport Harbor Sailors, 17-6. The defensive brawl handed the Sailors their first loss of the season.
“It is the last tune up before Bay League. We played good defense last week, but we had too many turnovers. The squad hasn’t really put it all together, but hopefully tonight’s the night that they will. Comparisons between us and them have been made, so it looks to be a good game,” Mustangs coach Don Morrow said before the game.
Tonight was that night for Costa. The team put it all together on Friday. Both the offense and defense learned from their earlier games and emerged victorious.
The game started slowly. The Sailors started to penetrate deep into Mustang territory. As they entered Costa’s red zone, the Mustangs tightened their defense. The first quarter ended without much action, but the second quarter brought more excitement. Costa senior Geoff La Pointe intercepted a pass in the first play of the quarter.
“I dropped back in coverage, and their QB threw into my zone. I was just doing my job,” said La Pointe.
The Mustangs used the turnover to their advantage. They drove the ball down the field, and senior kicker Brendan Sofen nailed a 35-yard field goal to put Costa up 3-0. The low-scoring half concluded with the same score, as both teams went into the locker room with high hopes for the second half.
After the Homecoming festivities, the second half started slowly, similar to the pace of the first half. Tension grew as the Mustangs, behind senior running back Deon Morris, moved down the field. One of Morris’ long runs brought Costa to the 3-yard line.
“Our game plan wasn’t to go out and do anything fancy; we just wanted to take it to them. The offense did much better than we had in previous weeks. Our running game is back, and we were able to pull off a win against a tough team,” said Morris.
Morris was a vital asset for the Mustangs. He ran the ball consistently as Costa used its quick style of offense to fluster Newport’s defense. Costa took full advantage of Morris’ speed to gain yards on every play.
After Morris’ run, in the very next play, Costa fumbled the ball. The Sailors recovered it and then repeated Costa’s error. Costa pounced and brought the ball back into Newport’s territory.
Costa quickly struck against the unsure Newport defense. Costa scored a touchdown with a quarterback sneak executed by senior Dennis Falcone, putting Costa up 10-0.
Costa’s defense increased the pressure as it forced a quick punt, which was returned 31 yards by La Pointe. This sequence seemed to put an end to the game.
“The return wouldn’t have been anything without my blockers. It obviously gave us an extra boost to put the game away,” La Pointe said.
The punt return led to another Costa touchdown run by Morris, putting Costa up 17-0 with a little over 10 minutes left.
The Sailors tacked on a late touchdown, but it was too late to make a comeback, and after a blocked extra point, that was the game.
Mira Costa has its first Bay League game next week at West Torrance. Costa looks to go undefeated for the third straight season in the Bay League.
“As for the Bay League, our team is going to keep working hard to improve. The defense has done a great job, but there are areas for improvement,” La Pointe said.
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