Costa Mesa Needs Late Touchdown to Beat Artists

C.J. Zuniga scored from eight yards with 20 seconds remaining to give Costa Mesa a 35-29 Pacific Coast League victory over host Laguna Beach Friday night.

Zuniga’s touchdown capped a six-play, 68-yard drive. Zuniga, Orange County’s leading rusher, ran 37 times for 287 yards and three touchdowns.

Laguna Beach (3-6, 0-4) looked like a winner when quarterback Ryan Schissler scored on a 10-yard run with 1 minute 32 seconds left in the game. The Artists took a 29-28 lead on the two-point conversion, Schissler hitting running back Pat Chesley with a pass in the end zone.

Costa Mesa (7-2, 2-1) scored first on a 18-yard run by quarterback David Weir on the Mustangs’ first possession with 5:57 remaining in the first quarter. Laguna Beach answered on its next possession with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Schissler to Jacob Griswold.

Costa Mesa’s Greg Stewart returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown. The Mustangs scored again on Zuniga’s first of three touchdown runs, an 11-yard run with 2:37 left in the second quarter. Laguna Beach scored with 23 seconds left in the half when Schissler’s one-yard run finished a six-play, 65-yard drive.

The Artists tied the score, 21-21, on the first play of the fourth quarter when Schissler found Will Blodgett on a 31-yard pass play.