Football wins first home game against West Torrance

By Cole Garvey

Staff Writer

Following the Mira Costa Green and Gold Tailgate, the Mustangs put together an impressive showing Sept. 22, capturing their first win of the season.

In its first home game of the season, Mira Costa’s varsity football team defeated the West Torrance Warriors 35-6 at Waller Stadium. The win snapped a three game losing streak for the Mustangs.

“This week, we really wanted to show that we were a better team than our record showed,” coach Cameron Chow said.

The first quarter of the game started slowly for the Mustangs as West Torrance’s defense put the Warriors up early with a pick-six. The Warriors then missed their extra point attempt. On their next drive, the Mustangs were able to rally back with a rushing touchdown from junior quarterback Reed Vabrey. The first quarter concluded with Costa’s defense making a big fourth down stop, allowing the offense to get back to work.

“Our defense worked hard all week during practice and because of this, we were all very prepared for West’s offense,” sophomore cornerback Jackson Fischer said.

In the second quarter, Costa’s offense excelled, receiving two more rushing touchdowns from Vabrey and giving Costa a sizable 21-6 lead going into halftime.

“We converted on 50 percent of our third downs and executed a lot of our plays on offense, especially our runs,” Vabrey said.

The third quarter began with Fischer recovering the ball after a surprise onside kick from the Mustangs. With 9:37 remaining in the quarter, senior running back Vashon Hill scored on a two yard touchdown run, putting the Mustangs up 28-6. Costa would continue to pour it on, closing out the quarter with a touchdown from junior Malachi McMahon to extend the lead to 35-6.

“We changed the offensive game plan up a little and we executed,” senior offensive lineman Robert Fiene said.

Although West had opportunities to score in the fourth quarter, Costa’s defense remained strong with good tackles and plays to break up passes from West High’s quarterback junior Brandon Poffenbarger. The Mustangs closed the game strong, earning their first win of the season, 35-6.

“We brought the team’s energy up instead of blaming each other, which really helped during the second half,” senior middle linebacker Cody Kallenbach said.

The Mustangs, now 1-3 overall, will next play against South Hills at South Hills High School tonight at 7 p.m.  The Mustangs will be looking to continue their momentum and gain a second straight win when they take the field next week against the Huskies.

“We are trying to treat this game like a playoff game, and stick with the quarterback run game. It seems to be like our new identity,” head coach Donald Morrow said.