Two-time defending Bay League champion Mira Costa kept its hopes for a three-peat alive with a hard-fought 15-7 victory at Palos Verdes, leaving the Mustangs and rival Redondo alone at the top as the only unbeaten teams in the Bay League.
Kicker Brendan Sofen connected on field goals of 19, 25, and 40 yards to help Mira Costa hand Palos Verdes its first loss of the year. The victory moved the Mustangs from the tenth spot into the sixth position in the CIF Southern Section Northern Division poll and dropped the Sea Kings two spots into the seventh slot.
As it has all season, Mira Costa relied heavily on its physical defense which held Palos Verdes star running back Marc Sasso to just 22 yards on 14 carries.
“I was thinking the game would be something like 17-14,” Mira Costa head coach Don Morrow said. “We played such great run defense. The kid (Sasso) is a great back and I didn’t think we’d shut him down like that so hats off to our defense front. I also give their quarterback (Zack Fixen) a lot of credit for hanging in there.”
Morrow also praised the play of Sam Stekol. Trailing 7-0, Mira Costa’s Stekol returned an interception to the Palos Verdes 7-yard line to set up Sofen’s first field goal of the game as the clock ticked off to end the first half.
“At halftime, we felt it was basically a 0-0 game,” Morrow said.
After Sofen added another three points for the only scoring in the third quarter, Stekol’s dramatic 32-yard catch from halfback Troy Saemann set up a seven-yard scoring run by Deon Morris on the first play of the final quarter.
Morris and J.R. Tavai combined for 138 yards on 32 carries. Tavai helped Mira Costa keep the ball out of the hands of Palos Verdes quarterback Zack Fixen, gaining 40 of his 57 rushing yards in the fourth quarter.
Morris scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season while amassing 81 yards to give him 347 on the year. The ground game helped take some of the pressure of junior quarterback Christian Rogers who was playing in only his second varsity game.
“We knew they (Palos Verdes) are a good team and in the first half we couldn’t get anything on them,” Rogers said. “Luckily in the fourth quarter, we came out and set the tempo.”
Morrow said he was pleased with Rogers’ performance.
“In the second half, he hit three or four key passes on third down. He didn’t panic and really kept his cool.”
Despite the win, Rogers feels the starting position is still up for grabs.
“I’ll keep working to keep the starting position because every week could be different,” Rogers said. “Right now, I think we have a found a good fit. It wasn’t the prettiest win but it’s a big win. We have a great defense to help me out. This was a big game that we’d been looking at and it’s good to have it behind us.”
Mira Costa won’t face a legitimate contender until it visits rival Redondo on November 12 and is looking at a tougher task in the post season now that the Bay League is a member of the Northern Division which includes three of the state’s top 20 teams in the www.maxpreps.com poll.
“We’re awfully young,” Morrow said. “There are times when we are playing three or four sophomores on the offensive line so we’re growing and getting better week by week. Fortunately, we have some great veteran leadership with J.R. Tavai and Brett Darragh. We’re getting there. It’s a work in progress.”
Mira Costa (4-3, 2-0) hosts Peninsula (2-5, 1-1) Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers come off a 23-13 win over visiting Leuzinger where quarterback Brock Dale (6-0, 175) threw for 217 yards and one touchdown. The junior has completed 65-of-138 passes for 852 yards and three touchdowns this season while throwing seven interceptions.
Running back Okuoma Idah (5-10, 175) is averaging nearly five yards per carry, rushing for 359 yards on 72 carries and wide receiver Robert Castelao (6-1, 180) is Peninsula’s top receiver with 13 receptions for 198 yards and one touchdown. He had three catches for 105 yards in the Panther’s win against Leuzinger.
Redondo escapes with win
A week after Mira Costa routed West 41-3, the Warriors gave Redondo all it could handle as the host Sea Hawks held on to a 7-0 victory to remain unbeaten in Bay League competition.
Redondo’s defense came up big again, holding West to only 58 total yards. The strong Sea Hawk ground game, however, was limited to 124 yards, more than half gained by quarterback Nick Pope who rushed for 63 yards but only had five completions for 71 yards in the air.
A 47-yard completion to Brandon Engel in the third quarter set up the game’s only score, a one-yard touchdown run by Ryan Spiwak, who finished the game with 48 yards on 19 carries.
Redondo (5-2, 2-0) travels to Lawndale to take on Leuzinger (1-6, 0-2) in a game the Sea Hawks can ill afford to take lightly if they want to remain in the hunt for a league title. Redondo concludes its Bay League schedule with home games against Palos Verdes on November 5 and the following week against rival Mira Costa.
Leuzinger comes off a 23-13 loss to Peninsula in a battle of teams with 1-5 records. Running back Anthony Williams (5-8, 185) leads the Olympians offense rushing for 460 yards and five touchdowns on 85 carries.
Wingback Courtney Crockett (5-10, 165) is Leuzinger quarterback John Carriere’s (5-8, 165) favorite target followed by Laron Barnes (6-2, 220) who scored the Olympian’s lone offensive touchdown last week with an eight-yard run.
Leuzinger’s defense is led by linebackers Ivan McLennoan (6-3, 215) and Jabari Mathieu (6-2, 240), who had recorded four sacks prior to last week’s game. ER
