Pacifica Puts Skids on Costa Mesa Rushers

A funny thing happened at Friday’s first-round Southern Section Division IX football game between run-happy Costa Mesa and pass-happy Pacifica. The game was smothered in defense.

In the end, however, Pacifica made more big plays on both offense and defense and pulled out a 14-6 victory over Costa Mesa, ending the Mustangs’ season a bit earlier than expected.

“It’s tough,” Costa Mesa Coach Jerry Howell said. “This was a hard-hitting football game between two fairly even schools. They made more of the key plays than we did.”

The Mariners kept the Mustang running attack in check the entire game, allowing only eight first downs. C.J. Zuniga, Orange County’s leading rusher in the regular season, was held to 78 yards rushing in 29 carries.

Costa Mesa (8-3) scored first on a 32-yard field goal by Luis Avalos with 8:41 remaining in the second quarter.

Costa Mesa picked up a first down on the Mariner four-yard line after a fake punt. But Pacifica’s defense kept Mesa out of the end zone and the Mustangs settled for a 21-yard field goal by Avalos, making it, 6-0.

Pacifica then went 68 yards on five plays, culminating with a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joey Fuske to Jeremy Lovelace with 48 seconds remaining in the half.

The Mustangs got a chance to get back into the game when they recovered a Mariner fumble on their one-yard line with about six minutes remaining. But three plays later on fourth down, another fake punt came up short of a first down, giving the ball back to the Mariners on Costa Mesa’s 10-yard line.

Jerid Kemp, who finished with 106 yards rushing, scored on a four-yard run in the fourth quarter to cap the Mariners’ scoring.