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Costa overpowers West Torrance, record now 8-0
by Quentin Haigh
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Costa quarterback Tyler Caldwell eyes the endzone before increasing Costa’s lead to 21-3 in third quarter against West. Photo by Ray Vidal |
The Mira Costa Mustangs defeated the West Torrance Warriors last Friday night, 34-17, to improve their already incredible record to 8-0. The win secured them a rank of 22nd in the LA Times Top 25 for another week.
Each team’s early efforts were marred by turnovers. Costa threw an interception to West, only to intercept a West pass six seconds later. The teams went back and forth throughout the first quarter, without scoring. The quarter ended with Costa blocking a West field goal attempt from the Costa 25-yard line as the clock ticked to 0:00.
Costa came out hot in the second quarter. Wide receiver Nick Haley made a big catch for 35 yards. They were stopped short soon after on the drive, however, as quarterback Peter Dobush was sacked on third down for a loss of 13 yards, forcing Costa to punt. West committed a penalty on the punt, however, by putting too many men on the field. This allowed Costa to move 15 yards forward from a fourth and 20 play to a fourth and five. They went for the pass to Haley, but were unable to convert. Just a few minutes later, Costa regained the ball and handed it off to running back Michael Okwo, who provided a long 47-yard run to West’s 25-yard line. This set Okwo up for a 20-yard rushing touchdown on 3rd and five, with 5:40 left on the clock for the second quarter. The score gave Costa the first lead of the night, 7-0.
With West Torrance knocking on the door later in the second, Costa's Casey Sitchler made a crucial sack that sent West back nine yards to second and 19 on the Costa 37-yard line. West had to settle for a field goal, keeping them down, 7-3. Costa was not done yet for the quarter. With 54 seconds on the clock, Costa made a big 39-yard gain to the West 20-yard line, allowing for a 20-yard pass into the endzone on the next play with 48 seconds left in the second. After converting on the extra point, Costa had the lead, 14-3.
West had another unfortunate special teams play as they missed a field goal from the Costa 23-yard line midway into the third quarter. Costa went on another tear through the West Torrance defense late in the third, handing it off to Okwo for a 15-yard run to the West 40-yard line. Sitchler made an outstanding 25-yard reception on the ensuing play, setting Okwo up for a 13-yard run to the West 2-yard line. Costa brought in backup quarterback Tyler Caldwell to sneak the ball in for the score as time ran out in the third, making the game 21-3 in Costa's favor.
Costa didn't let up in the fourth quarter. They made their presence felt yet again from the start of the quarter, forcing a fumble on the opening kick return, and recovering it on the West 32-yard line. The next play was a 21-yard reverse to Haley. Now knocking on the door again, Costa was forced to settle for a short field goal, changing the score to 24-3 with 9:47 to go in the fourth. Only about a minute later West threw an interception to Okwo, giving the ball back to Costa in deep West territory. A 13-yard run by Okwo on the next play gave Kevin Lovell another short field goal a few downs later, upping Costa' lead again to 27-3 with 6:35 left in the fourth. With time ticking down, West finally made some things happen. First, they went in for a 3-yard rushing touchdown, shortening Costa's lead to 27-10 with 1:29 left in the fourth. They threw that all away, however, as they allowed Costa's Tyler Pringle break through on West's onside kick attempt and score a touchdown, giving Costa a huge 34-10 lead, now with only 1:17 to go in the game. A 42-yard touchdown for West with 10 seconds left gave the game its final score of 34-17.
"Both lines played great. They controlled the line of scrimmage all night long. The offensive line guys like Baker, Koppel, Meick, Carlton, and Lyons blocked excellently for both the running and passing games. It was an outstanding combined team effort," Dobush said after the game.
Next week the Mustangs host Culver City for the homecoming game at 7 p.m. in Waller Stadium. The Homecoming Dance is the following night in Fisher Gym at 8 p.m. ER