TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Costa Mesa High senior running back Mario Smith needed just one half to rush for 149 yards and two touchdowns in Thursday’s 42-7 nonleague football win over Santiago of Garden Grove.
Smith, like Coach Wally Grant, gave credit to his offensive line. The line continued opening up holes in the second half for sophomore Oronde Crenshaw. He finished with 65 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries.
Crenshaw also stood out on defense as a linebacker for the Mustangs (1-1), contributing to three sacks.
“He’s an incredible worker,” Smith said of Crenshaw, the son of former Mustangs fullback/defensive end DeWayne Crenshaw. “I’m looking forward to what he can do in the future for Costa Mesa.”
Corona del Mar High is off to a third straight 2-0 start to the season after pulling off a thrilling 28-21 victory at Huntington Beach on Friday.
Running back Erik Fisher scored the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard run with 25 seconds left. The Sea Kings marched 64 yards on 10 plays, burning 5:03 off the clock.
The victory helped CdM move up a spot to No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll.
After two road games, CdM plays host to Western (2-0) on Thursday at Newport Harbor High at 7 p.m.
Estancia High Coach Mike Bargas could not be totally surprised about receiver Ben Beck’s breakout game in the Eagles’ 56-0 win over Bolsa Grande on Friday afternoon.
Beck had five catches for 131 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a touchdown.
Beck, a junior who also plays basketball and baseball for Estancia, came out for football just before the season last year. He played more and more as the year went on, Bargas said.
“He works his butt off,” Bargas said. “He always gives his all during practice. It’s great when you have a great practice player who also shows it out on the football field.”
Newport Harbor High didn’t kick off the season the same way it had the previous eight years.
The Sailors saw their eight-game winning streak in season openers snapped after losing at Trabuco Hills, 35-14.
The setback was the third-worst season-opening loss in Coach Jeff Brinkley’s 26 years at Newport Harbor.
“Tough to play from behind,” said Brinkley, whose team trailed Trabuco Hills, 14-0, in the first quarter.
Sage Hill School Coach J.R. Tolver said his team’s offensive line remains a work in progress after Saturday’s 50-14 loss to Tri-City Christian. The Lightning ran the ball 29 times, and just four of those went for more than 10 yards.
Eric Cheng had a 74-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation in the first quarter, but Sage Hill (1-1) struggled to get it going after that.
“They exposed us,” Tolver said. “We don’t have T.J. Danner up front anymore; we don’t have some of our senior leadership up front anymore. We’re waiting for some of those guys to step up and mature, and take control of that group.”
Quarterback Brent Lawson has lit up opposing defenses in CdM’s first two games.
Lawson has thrown for 423 yards and five touchdowns, with only one interception. Three Sea Kings have caught touchdown passes, including one for 75 yards.
That hookup was with Cole Cottrell last week against Huntington Beach. The big play tied the Oilers, 21-21, midway through the fourth quarter.
Three times, Lawson hit Cottrell with passes on third down, each one resulting in a first down. Cottrell finished with five catches for 123 yards.
Lawson also found receiver Troy Reese for a 23-yard touchdown. The two have connected six times this season, three times for touchdowns.
Costa Mesa’s running game has been a luxury the Mustangs haven’t had in the recent past. Smith has 285 yards rushing and three touchdowns through just two games.
Quarterback Nathan Alvis, now a senior, was the team’s leading rusher last year with 508 yards.
“Last year we were a passing team mainly,” senior receiver Jordan Walden said. “This year, coach wants to pound the ball in a little more. He’s saying that if we pound the ball in [with the run], the passing will open up, and it showed [against Santiago].”
David Moore made plays for CdM, early, midway and late at Huntington Beach. The biggest came with the game tied at 21-21 with 5:28 left and the Oilers in CdM territory.
The senior linebacker recovered a fumble on the Sea Kings’ 36 and the turnover led CdM’s game-winning drive.
Moore practically did it all, sacking the quarterback, stuffing the running game, breaking up passes, including one on a screen, and pouncing on a fumble, Huntington Beach’s lone turnover.
The Sailors might have found a running back to replace Buzzy Yokoyama, who transferred to Mission Viejo High for his senior year.
Titus Hasson carried the ball for the first time for Newport Harbor late in the first half. He gained 10 yards and, by halftime, he recorded 24 yards on three carries.
In Hasson’s second carry in the second half, he showed his speed. He scored on a 16-yard touchdown run, cutting Trabuco Hills’ lead to 21-14 four minutes into the third quarter.
The senior finished with 49 yards on seven carries, nine fewer yards and six fewer carries than starter AJ Swies.
Ethan Cochran, who Brinkley said would see action in the backfield, did not carry the ball.
Another highlight for Estancia was the punting of Robert Murtha. The game was well in hand early in the third quarter when Murtha unleashed a 69-yard punt.
“You know, he was All-CIF as a punter for us,” Bargas said. “People don’t realize that not only is he a good runner, but he’s just as good a kicker.”
The three most lopsided wins in Estancia football history have all come since 2006 and all against Bolsa Grande.
The Eagles beat the Matadors by identical 56-0 scores in 2006 and on Friday. Last year, they won the nonleague game against Bolsa Grande, 55-0.
Newport Harbor plays host to Loyola of Los Angeles on Friday at 7 p.m. The Cubs head into the game with impressive wins.
Loyola recorded a 35-7 victory last week against West Covina, which is ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southeast Division. In the Cubs’ season opener, they beat Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach, 28-14. Mira Costa is ranked No. 8 in the Northern Division.
The Sailors have defeated Loyola the last two years.
Walden said beating Santiago was especially satisfying for the Mustangs’ seniors. Santiago beat Costa Mesa in the first round of the CIF Southern Division playoffs in 2008 and 2009, and also won last year’s nonleague meeting, 26-21.
—From staff reports