COSTA MESA – In a gritty, grinding affair, it was the hometown team, Costa Mesa, that grabbed hold of its Tango League dreams on Friday night.
While both teams’ defenses seemed to figure each other out with strong line play, Costa Mesa broke through with a pick-six touchdown and a quick-strike run game to pull away from Bolsa Grande, 29-6, and grab sole possession of first place in the Tango League.
Costa Mesa (7-1, 3-0) can clinch at least a share of the league title with a win at La Quinta on Friday, Oct. 24. Bolsa Grande (4-4, 2-1) looks to keep its title hopes alive next week at Anaheim.
“It’s fantastic,” Costa Mesa coach Gary Gonzalez said. “Hats off to Bolsa Grande. They played hard. Their D-line was physical. They had some special guys on that line, and they bottled us up a couple times, and kudos to them.”
“However, we cleaned it up in the second half. We made some adjustments and we said, just go out and play your style of football in the second half.”
Costa Mesa senior Andrew Waiss threw for a touchdown and ran for two more to pace the Mustangs. Waiss threw for 91 yards and ran for 92 more. Gavin Garza ran for 125 yards on 22 carries. Justin Hernandez caught three passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Louis Arreola brought home a 38-yard pick-6, and Jack Shafiyoon intercepted Bolsa Grande in the end zone.
Mikey Haley scored Bolsa Grande’s lone touchdown on a 68-yard opening-drive sprint and finished with 128 yards on 15 carries.
Bolsa Grande came out pounding the ball, and senior Haley burst up the Matadors sideline for a 68-yard score. The extra point was missed for a 6-0 lead.
Costa Mesa and Bolsa Grande combined for five penalties on the Mustangs’ ensuing drive, but Costa Mesa grabbed the lead when Waiss broke loose for a 32-yard touchdown run. Costa Mesa hit its extra point for a 7-6 advantage.
Costa Mesa’s defense locked in from there, forcing a three-and-out on the next drive and allowing just 54 yards of offense through the rest of the first half.
The Mustangs were initially unable to capitalize with two touchdowns called back on penalties on the next drive, which ended on a fourth-down stop at the Bolsa Grande 11-yard line. A holding call negated a 31-yard catch-and-run score from Waiss to Garza, and an illegal use of the hands call brought back a 21-yard Garza score.
However, the Costa Mesa defense kept up the pressure, and Arreola stepped up for his pick-6 to extend the Mustangs’ lead, 14-6.
Costa Mesa still couldn’t push out further, as Waiss had yet another touchdown called back, a 76-yard sprint, on a holding call late in the half.
The Mustangs were ultimately levied 110 yards of penalties in the first half on 10 accepted calls. The Matadors earned six penalties for just 31 yards in the half.
Bolsa Grande recovered a fumble after Waiss’ called-back touchdown, but the Matadors missed a 32-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the first half.
In what almost made for comedy, both teams were flagged on the opening kickoff of the second half.
That didn’t deter the Costa Mesa offense, which got in gear by riding Garza nine times on an 11 play drive to set up a 18-yard touchdown pass from Waiss to Hernandez. Bolsa Grande lined up offside on the extra point, and Costa Mesa took advantage to run in 2 two-point conversion for a 22-6 lead.
The Mustangs forced another three-and-out, and the ground game continued to push through in the fourth quarter, with Waiss scampering home on a 15-yard score for a 29-6 lead.
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