By: Sophia Vaughn
Despite a neck and neck matchup, the Mira Costa Mustangs were unable to triumph over the St. Francis nights, losing 23-21.
Mira Costa faced St. Francis High School at St. Francis at 7 p.m. on September 2nd. The matchup was close, with the lead bouncing back and forth between talented Costa and St. Francis sides. Unfortunately, Costa fell behind in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, losing 23-21. However, the game showed marked improvement for the Mustangs, as Costa’s offense and defense worked well as units, junior offensive lineman Diego Osterling Tabatabaian said.
“Our team did really well on both the offensive and defensive sides, “ Tabatabaian said. “It was a huge step in the right direction for us.”
The first quarter started off strong for the Mustangs, with a strong series of bullet passes that led to a touchdown on the opening drive. A short, 16 yard pass in the endzone caught by junior wide receiver Danny Millea gave the Mustangs the 7-0 lead. Despite going up against a powerhouse Knight offense, the Mustangs refused to back down, and answered two more Knight touchdowns when sophomore running back Kayle Marsh caught a 49 yard pass under tight coverage at the one yard line, setting up a short rushing touchdown. Junior quarterback Sam Whitney connected with junior running back Kage Geoghegan for another 17 yard touchdown, giving the Mustangs a 21-14 lead at the half.
“As a unit, our offense was able to drive the ball and everyone was hitting their jobs correctly,” Osterling Tabatabaian said.
The second half proved much more challenging for the Mustangs, as a relentless St. Francis defense left Costa’s offense with very few opportunities. Despite some significant running plays, the Mustangs were unable to execute in the red zone, but kept fighting. After two more St. Francis touchdowns and a field goal, the game came down to a final Mustang trick play in the last seconds of the fourth quarter. However, the Knights intercepted the trick play and Costa lost to St. Francis, 23-21.
“I thought this was going to be a win against St. Francis and until the end of the fourth quarter I still believed that, “ Osterling Tabatabaian said. “It sucked to see that all of our hard work did not pay off.”
The Mustangs, now 0-2, will face Mayfair High School at Bellflower High School on September 6th at 7 p.m. Costa hopes to continue to improve and that their offensive and defense will run smoothly, Osterling Tabatabaian said.
“There were some mixups during our past two games, “ Osterling Tabatabaian said. “Improvisation is something we need to improve on.”
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