Costa Mesa Grinds Up South Pasadena for Landmark Victory

Costa Mesa ignored the airwaves but had plenty of success on the ground en route to a 35-15 Division VIII playoff victory over South Pasadena Friday night at Newport Harbor High.

The Pacific Coast League-champion Mustangs, winless in the postseason since their last playoff victory in 1978, gained 428 yards rushing and 58 passing, despite losing starting fullback Dewayne Crenshaw to a shoulder injury with three minutes left in the second quarter. He didn’t return.

Crenshaw had rushed for 87 yards on 11 carries and scored all of Costa Mesa’s first-half touchdowns--on consecutive runs of one yard and another from three yards out--to give the Mustangs a 21-0 lead. South Pasadena cut it to 21-7 with three seconds left before halftime when quarterback Scott Hofman connected with Gavin Peries on a 23-yard touchdown pass play.

But Crenshaw’s injury wasn’t the only one to shake up the Mustangs (7-2-2). Late in the first quarter, junior defensive back Steve Owens was hit on a kickoff return, and the game was delayed 25 minutes while team trainers and a doctor attended to him.

Owens appeared to have a suffered a neck injury, but was moving as he was taken by an ambulance from the field.

“We lost a bit of our focus when those guys went out,” said offensive lineman Bryan Luxembourger.

Besides a slew of penalties--for a loss of 80 yards--and two turnovers--one lost, one recovered--Costa Mesa didn’t appear distracted. Especially effective was the offensive line, which gave Binh Tran ample time to pick up 241 yards on 37 carries, including a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that gave Costa Mesa a 28-7 lead.

“We knew our offensive line would be too physical for them,” said Costa Mesa Coach Myron Miller. “We felt our pitch and trap would work well for us.”

South Pasadena closed to 28-15 when Peries returned a kickoff 70 yards and Hofman’s pass conversion to Mike Chen was good. Peries led the Tigers (5-6) with 10 yards.

But on Costa Mesa’s next possession, Charles Chatman ran 26 yards for the 35-15 margin. Costa Mesa will play Norte Vista in the second round.

“I’m happy to be one of 25% of the teams that are still playing,” Miller said.