Football is defeated by La Serna

Staff Writer
Cole Garvey

Although the Mustangs’ defense held the La Serna Lancers scoreless in the first quarter, the Lancers’ relentless offense eventually wore down the Mustangs leading to Costa’s second loss of the season.

Mira Costa’s Varsity football team was defeated by the La Serna Lancers in the second game of the football season, on Friday, Sep. 10th. The final score of the game was 21-6 in favor of the Lancers.

“Our offense wasn’t able to produce and we scored for them once, but our defense took a huge step friday night,” said Head Coach Don Morrow.

In the first quarter, Costa and La Serna were locked in a defensive battle, with both Costa’s and the Lancers’ defense making key tackles which forced their opponent to punt.

“In the first half our defense was pretty locked down except for a few runs that we let get outside,” said junior quarterback Nick Carpino.

In the second quarter, La Serna struck first with an 11 yard touchdown run making the score 7-0. On La Serna’s next drive Costa senior monster back, Evenson Frank Love, intercepted La Serna’s quarterback giving the ball right back to Costa. With 6:50 left in the second, La Serna junior, Paul Duarte picked off Costa’s quarterback Reed Vabrey taking it to the endzone putting La Serna up 14-0. Then, with 52 seconds left in the half, La Serna’s running back, Daniel Garcia scored on a 3 yard touchdown run, giving La Serna a 21-0 lead going into halftime.

“Number six on La Serna was a very powerful runner, and had a big rushing day against us, but it was partially because we need to improve our tackling,” said junior linebacker Koda Thormodsgaard.

Late into the third quarter, Costa put together an impressive drive against La Serna’s defense, which ended in a 2 yard touchdown run from Junior running back Malachi McMahon. Costa missed their extra point attempt, making the score 21-6 in favor of the Lancers.

“We had a lot of opportunities in the first half that we didn’t take advantage of, and moved the ball pretty sporadically throughout the game,” said Head Coach Don Morrow.

Neither team scored in the 4th quarter, however Costa’s running back Malachi McMahon broke free for an explosive run stiff arming a La Serna linebacker in the process. The game ended with a final score of 21-6 in favor of the Lancers.

“In the fourth quarter, we were moving the ball really well, but stalled a few times as their defense played really well too,” said Junior quarterback Nick Carpino.

The Mustangs, now 0-2 on the season, play a 7:00 pm game this Friday against the El Segundo Eagles in El Segundo. The Mustangs are looking for a win heading into their third game of the season.

“We will have to execute all our jobs as a team, and bring the fight to them,” said Junior Offensive Lineman Bobby Millea.