Costa Mesa Football Preview

Costa Mesa (7-3) vs. Katella (7-3)

When/where: Friday, 7 p.m. at Jim Scott Stadium

Key Mustangs: Sr. RB/MLB Oronde Crenshaw (1,861 yards rushing on 202 carries; 28 total TDs including kick returns; team-high 105 tackles); Sr. WR/OLB Quinton Bell (297 yards receiving and four TDs); Sr. TE/DL Joseph Quiroz (241 yards receiving and one TD; 87 tackles, team-best 8.5 sacks).

Key Knights: Sr. RB TJ Ashmeade (1,485 yards rushing and 13 TDs on 199 carries); Sr. FB/CB Ben Cobb (770 yards rushing and six TDs on 123 carries); Sr. DT Jose Bermejo.

Breakdown: Costa Mesa is looking for its first playoff win since 1997 ... The Mustangs, coached by Wally Grant, have lost nine straight first-round games since then ... Costa Mesa captured its first outright Orange Coast League title in five years with a 56-30 win at Laguna Beach on Friday ... Katella, coached by Fred DiPalma, is the third-place finisher from the Orange League, and like Costa Mesa, features a power running attack ... The Mustangs lost to the Knights, 21-16, in a nonleague game Sept. 14 at Jim Scott Stadium, but they were missing Crenshaw (ankle), Bell (hip flexor) and key lineman Corbin Pritchard (ACL) in that contest ... Crenshaw is within two touchdowns of tying the Mesa single-season record for total touchdowns (30), set by Mario Smith in 2011 ... Crenshaw averaged 294 yards rushing in league ... Ashmeade ran for 150 yards and a touchdown in the teams’ earlier meeting. He missed two midseason games with a shoulder injury, hurting the Knights’ chances at a league title, but he ran for 250 yards and a touchdown in Katella’s regular-season finale, a 21-12 victory over Anaheim on Nov. 7 ... Costa Mesa has won six straight games ... The winner of Friday’s game will meet either No. 2-seeded Garden Grove or Orange in the quarterfinals.

— Matt Szabo