Costa Mesa Stays on Ground to Beat Norte Vista, 35-12

Riverside Norte Vista, giant killers last week, rolled over meekly to Costa Mesa Friday. The Mustangs won, 35-12, in a Southern Section Division VIII quarterfinal at Riverside College.

Norte Vista, which beat top-seeded La Mirada to earn the shot at Costa Mesa, never had a chance this time, trailing, 21-0, in the first half and, 28-0, before the Braves scored.

As usual, Costa Mesa kept the football on the ground. Senior tailback Binh Tran rushed 35 times for 152 yards and scored the Mustangs’ first touchdown. Costa Mesa had 238 yards rushing and quarterback Jeff Niebling threw for two touchdowns and 88 more yards.

“Our offense got a little slow in the second half, but it was our game all the way,” Costa Mesa Coach Myron Miller said. “We showed that we can also be effective throwing the ball, but with a big lead we didn’t have to put the ball in the air that much.”

After a scoreless first quarter Tran scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes 49 seconds remaining in the first half. Later in the quarter, the Mustangs scored twice in less than a minute, as Niebling completed a 12-yard scoring pass to Charles Chatman and fullback Dewayne Crenshaw scored on a 59-yard run following the first of four interceptions by Mustang defensive back Corey Sides.

Sides stopped a drive by the Braves late in the first half when he intercepted an Eddie Mercado pass in the end zone. He later scored the final two Costa Mesa touchdowns on a 19-yard pass from Niebling and a 14-yard interception return.

“Because we had a pair of all-league defensive back in Chatman and (Steve) Owen, Norte Vista decided to pick on Sides,” Miller said.