Costa Mesa’s Defense Trips Up Calvary Chapel

Gaining the lead with defense, and defending it with offense, Costa Mesa snapped a two-game losing streak and knocked off Calvary Chapel, 25-7, Friday night in the final nonleague tuneup for both teams.

The Mustangs ran only five offensive plays in the first 14 minutes, but took a 12-0 lead with two big defensive plays. With the Eagles facing fourth down at the Costa Mesa 37, Steve Owens broke through the right side of the line to block a Calvary Chapel punt. He picked up the bouncing ball in the clear at the Calvary 36 and ran it in for a 6-0 Costa Mesa lead.

The Eagles moved to the Costa Mesa 27 on their next possession, but Waylan Kruse’s fourth-down pass was intercepted by Ryan Taylor, who returned it 69 yards for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead just 23 seconds into the second quarter.

Calvary bounced right back with a bizarre play that set up a touchdown. Facing a fourth down at the Mustang 23, a Kruse pass apparently was caught at the two by tight end Aaron Fountain and Costa Mesa defensive back Charles Chatman. They wrestled and eventually went out of bounds, with possession remaining with the offense. Robert Hudson found the end zone on the next play to narrow the gap to 12-7.