Cole Garvey
Online Sports Editor
The Mustangs fell to the Palos Verdes Sea Kings on Friday, ending their chances of an undefeated league.
Despite a valiant effort, Mira Costa’s football team fell 26-7 at Palos Verdes High School on Friday. The team missed key opportunities that would have kickstarted their momentum, leading to their loss, senior middle linebacker Cody Kallenbach said.
“We didn’t score on the goal line even though or when defense caused a fumble and recovered it on the 50 yard line,” Kallenbach said. “If we scored on either situation it could have been a different outcome.”
The game began with Palos Verdes scoring on a short three yard touchdown run from senior running back Will Boss. On the Sea Kings’ next drive, Boss caught a pass and took it to the endzone for a 50 yard touchdown. The Mustangs remained scoreless in the first quarter, Sea KIngs leading 13-0.
“Boss was very dangerous on offense.” sophomore cornerback Jackson Fisher said. “He was difficult to cover, and tackle as well,”
In the second quarter, Costa’s defense stepped up, preventing Palos Verdes offense from scoring all quarter. At the end of the quarter, Costa’s special teams made a huge play as junior offensive lineman Bobby Millea blocked a punt, recovered the ball, and propelled himself into the endzone to score, making it 13-7 at halftime with the Sea Kings in the lead.
“Our special teams played great throughout the game, but due to some lack of experience, personnel, and miscommunication it was hard to put together drives on offense,” Millea said.
The third quarter was a defensive battle for both teams’ defenses, forcing each other into fourth down punt situations. Eventually, Boss broke free on a offensive 75 yard run which gave Palos Verdes a 20-7 lead.
“Our offense didn’t execute as well as we had liked, and PV’s athletes made it tough to execute plays of offense,” junior quarterback Nick Carpino said.
Early in the fourth, Costa’s defense kept the Mustangs alive by forcing and recovering a fumble on the 50 yard line. Costa’s offense wasn’t able to capitalize on their field position and the Sea Kings took over possession of the ball which lead to a fourth touchdown by Boss to end the game with a final score of 26-7 Sea Kings win.
“Our defense played well all game long, we had some small slip ups that resulted in long touchdowns for PV,” senior center Robert Fiene said.
The Mustangs, now 3-1 overall in Bay League will play their final Bay League match of the season against rival, the Redondo Seahawks on Nov. 3rd and are looking to take down the Seahawks in front of their home crowd.
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