Costa Mesa remains winless

There’s no secret to what the Costa Mesa High Mustangs must do in order to find their first win of the 2016 football season; get better defending against the run. Mesa dropped to 0-5 Friday night when visiting Savanna rolled up 454 yards rushing in beating the Mustangs 48-7 in a non-league contest.

“They’re very effective at running that triple option,” Costa Mesa Coach Glen Fisher said. “Their boys get off the ball real aggressively. If you miss a tackle, they have enough speed where they can gain some great yards.”

“We didn’t expect this,” Savanna Coach Roger Whelan said. “I think we caught them in some things we haven’t been scouted on and I think that contributed a lot to a little surprise affect. It made it tough for them to catch up.”

The Rebels wasted no time putting the first points on the board, ripping off a six-play, 76-yard opening drive with senior Antonio Diez scoring on an 8-yard touchdown run. Diez keyed the drive with a 38-yard run on the fourth play from scrimmage. The Mustangs were down 7-0 only a minute and 54 seconds into the game.

The game was delayed for 25 minutes after Mesa’s first play from scrimmage making a long night longer. Savanna linebacker Sly Delgadillo suffered a neck injury making the tackle and was removed from the field on a stretcher. Delgadillo showed movement in his extremities and the injury was not thought to be severe.

The Mustangs first possession of the evening ended in the first of three turnovers, all of which the Rebels converted into touchdowns. After recovering a fumble, Savanna marched 59 yards on eight plays, again, all on the ground. Sophomore Carlos Hernandez dashed in from 17 yards out to make it 14-0.

The Rebels extended the lead to 21-0 on the first play of the second quarter on senior quarterback Ryan Smith’s first of only three pass attempts on the night. Smith lofted a 16-yard rainbow to the corner of the end zone that Diez hauled in under tight coverage.

Hernandez made it 28-0 with a 20-yard run for his second touchdown of the game before an interception by his brother Gabe Hernandez set up another score. Diez did the damage again, breaking tackles and outsprinting the defense on a 29-yard run for his third touchdown of the half. Pedro Figueroa’s fifth extra-point kick made it 35-0 at the break.

In the shadow of a rout, the Mustangs managed some offensive life to start the third quarter. Junior running back Chris Romero carried four times for 23 yards, capping an eight-play drive with a one-yard plunge for Mesa’s only touchdown of the night. Aaron Murillo’s extra point made it 35-7.

“We’ve done that most of the year. We’ll come out and have a good drive,” Fisher said, “then we’ll get a bad snap, or a fumble. We seem to shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s a sign of a very, very young football team.”

Diez scored his fourth TD of the game with a four-yard run to cap Savanna’s first possession of the fourth quarter and Hernandez drove the spike through Mesa’s heart with a 55-yard sprint up the middle to finish off the scoring at 48-7.

Savanna evened its record at 2-2 on the season.

Nonleague

Savanna 48, Costa Mesa 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Savanna 14 – 21 – 0 – 13 - 48

Costa Mesa 0 – 0 – 7 - 0 - 7

FIRST QUARTER

SAV – Diez 8 run (Figueroa kick), 10:06.

SAV – Mena 17 run (Figueroa kick), 4:02.

SECOND QUARTER

SAV – Diez 16 pass from Smith (Figueroa kick), 11:52.

SAV – Hernandez 20 run (Figueroa kick), 8:13.

SAV – Diez 29 run (Figueroa kick), 4:18.

THIRD QUARTER

CM – Romero 1 run (Murillo kick), 8:24.

FOURTH QUARTER

SAV – Diez 4 run (Kick failed), 9:09.

SAV – Hernandez 55 run (Figueroa kick), 3:38.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CM – Ayala, 10-51.

SAV – C. Hernandez, 14-187, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CM – Swanson, 7-15-1, 57.

SAV – Smith, 3-3-0, 37 , TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CM – Perez, 2-39.

SAV – Diez, 1-16, TD.