In just the second week of league play, Mira Costa finds itself with a critical game when the Mustangs travel to take on Palos Verdes in a 2:30 p.m. contest Friday.
Palos Verdes (6-0, 1-0) is ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Northern Division while Mira Costa (3-3, 1-0) holds the No. 10 spot after surviving a demanding non-league schedule. The winner will put itself in the driver’s seat in the race for the Bay League title.
Defending champion Mira Costa looked like its old self in its 41-3 thrashing of West. Using their third quarterback of the season, the Mustang relied on junior signal caller Christian Rogers to spark the offense. Mira Costa amassed 241 yards rushing, led by Deon Morris who gained 97 yards while scoring two touchdowns. J.R. Tavai added 71 yards rushing and two scores.
Morris leads the team with 272 yards and three touchdowns on 52 carries this season while Sam Stekol is the team’s top receiver with 270 yards on 17 catches.
Rogers’ first varsity touchdown pass was a 50-yard strike to wide-open tight end Derek Largent in the first quarter.
“The linemen sold the run and the play went perfectly,” Largent said. “The safety bit and the quarterback had a little trouble seeing me and the pass was wobbly, but it was a nice feeling to score.”
In the second quarter, Tavai’s touchdown runs of one and three yards sandwiched Morris’ 30-yard touchdown scamper. Morris added a seven-yard score in the third quarter and Stephen Giovati scored on a one-yard run in the fourth to complete the Mustang’s scoring.
“Our running game and offense allows our defense to really let loose,” said Largent, who plays linebacker on the defensive side of the ball. “J.R.’s (Tavai) the best defensive lineman around but it’s going to take a team effort to win. We have a lot of respect for PV and their running game and it’s going to come down to who wants it more. After our tough pre-season, I think we can hang with any team.”
Tavai has led a stellar Mira Costa defense, recording a team-high 67 tackles and an area-best 11 sacks this season.
Palos Verdes is coming off a 46-14 victory over Leuzinger where the Sea Kings held a 40-0 lead at halftime with many starters sitting out the second half.
Quarterback Zack Fixen (6-0, 175) made the most of his three completions, connecting on two touchdowns of 40 yards and one of 19 yards. The junior has passed for 569 yards and 12 touchdowns with only one interception this year. Wide receiver Robby Kolanz (5-11, 175) is his favorite target
Running back Marc Sasso (6-0, 205) is the workhorse of the Palos Verdes offense gaining 896 yards while scoring nine touchdowns this season.
Zach Henkhaus (5-8, 165) is a threat on special teams. The junior scored on a 68-yard kickoff return and added punt returns of 32 and 34 yards in last week’s victory over Leuzinger.
Sea Hawks win opener
Redondo won its first day game since 2006 last Friday with a 33-14 victory at Peninsula but it wasn’t the type of win Coach Gene Simon was expecting, even though his team held a 26-0 lead at the end of three quarters after coming off a bye week.
“We made a lot of shoot-you-in-the-foot kind of mistakes and overall I thought we looked a little unpolished,” Simon said. “We’re still young on the offensive side at the skilled positions, but it’s nice to get that first league win.”
One of those young players is junior quarterback Nick Pope, who was excited to escape with the win.
“It feels good to come up here and get the win,” Pope said. “We worked as hard, if not harder, during our bye week to get ready for league and we wanted keep that steam going in to the game.”
The Sea Hawks (4-2, 1-0) overcame turnovers and penalties to defeat Peninsula (1-5, 0-1) which snapped a 14-game losing streak on Oct. 1 with a 28-14 victory over Lawndale. Redondo hosts West (1-5, 0-1) Friday at 7 p.m. and Peninsula hosts Leuzinger (1-5, 0-1) at 3 p.m.
After Ryan Spiwak put Redondo on the board in the first quarter with a five-yard run, Hunter Bradshaw connected on a 38-yard field goal before catching an 11-yard touchdown pass from Pope to give the Sea Hawks a 17-0 lead at halftime.
Redondo’s defense came close to scoring another touchdown but couldn’t control the ball before it slid out of the end zone after an errant hike on a punt attempt. Spiwak, who finished the day rushing for 118 yards on 16 carries, scored the second of his three touchdowns on a two-yard run in the third quarter.
Peninsula put added pressure on Pope throughout the second half, forcing him to scramble and hurry his throws. He finished the day completing 10-of-25 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown,
“I think they knew we weren’t acclimated to those blitzes,” Pope said. “Peninsula had some film on us from the Culver City game when they were effective against us in the blitz.”
After Peninsula scored two touchdowns in the final quarter, Spiwak capped off the victory with a 31-yard touchdown run.
Redondo’s defense held Peninsula to 72 yards rushing on 24 attempts and intercepted two passes.
“We prepared all week and came out physical,” said wide receiver/defensive back Jon Catsavas. “Our defense is the key, because if we have the ball I like our chances on offense. We have about 20 minutes at practice devoted to picking up blitz packages and it seems like they’re getting us up the middle so we’re going to have to go back and look at that.”
West has surrendered 154 points while only scoring 58 in its six games. The Warriors lone win came in the second week with a 28-14 victory over Torrance.
Kicker Cody Thornton has provided the bulk of the scoring in West’s last four contests. Running back Ricky Sato (5-8, 165) gained 78 yards in last week’s loss to Mira Costa and Barry Thomas (5-10, 190) entered the game having rushed for 474 yards and four touchdowns on 96 carries.
West tight Josh Girardini (6-4, 245) also draws attention.
“West has a good tight end. He’s a big dude,” Catsavas said. “They like to have trips to the opposite side and single him out and go one-on-one with the corner. He seems to be their main weapon.” ER
