THE PREPS : Schones Rallies Costa Mesa, 14-13

Rich Schones threw for a touchdown and ran for another to lead Costa Mesa High School to a come-from-behind 14-13 Pacific Coast League victory over Orange Thursday night at El Modena High School.

The victory put the Mustangs (4-4-1, 2-2) a half-game behind Trabuco Hills and Laguna Beach (both 2-1 in league play), who are tied for second going into tonight’s games.

The loss dropped Orange (2-7, 1-3) into fifth place.

Costa Mesa trailed, 13-0, at halftime, but Schones narrowed Orange’s lead to 13-7 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter by throwing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Duby Ospina. The play came 2 plays after Pat Myers recovered a fumble by Orange quarterback Scott McMahon on the Panther 41.

Then, with 9 minutes remaining in the game, Schones scored on a 1-yard run to tie the score, 13-13. Jim Hastie kicked the extra point.

“We weren’t ready to play Orange in the first half,” Costa Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin said. “We turned it around in the second half by playing better defense. We didn’t play well offensively, but we turned the game around with the bomb.”

Orange, which had 180 yards in total offense in the first half, was held to 37 yards in total offense in the second half by Costa Mesa, which sacked McMahon 7 times for minus-35 yards.

Orange jumped to a 7-0 lead with 4 minutes left in the first quarter on McMahon’s 8-yard touchdown run. McMahon’s score capped a 74-yard, 8-play drive which was highlighted by a 20-yard run by Aaron McAffee and an 18-yard pass from McMahon to Eric McKay.

The Panthers also got an 11-yard run from Jim Dellrocco in the series.

The Panthers, who held Costa Mesa to 24 yards in total offense in the first half, extended their lead to 13-0 with 13 seconds left before halftime on McMahon’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Henkle. The pass play came 5 plays after McKay returned a punt 12 yards to the Costa Mesa 39.

The score remained 13-0, however, as the Mustangs blocked Brian Smith’s kick.

“After that block, I told the kids that if we could score twice on touchdowns, we could win the game,” Baldwin said. “The problem was that our defense had to hold Orange, and that they did.”

Schones, who didn’t complete a pass in 3 first-half attempts, connected on 5 of 8 passes in the second half for 75 yards.