Following an injury-riddled season, Mira Costa’s football team kicks off its 2015 campaign Friday with high hopes of competing for the Bay League title and a deep run in the CIF Western Division playoffs.
The Mustangs are coming off a disappointing 3-7 season but head coach Don Morrow believes depth and athleticism will keep his team competitive throughout the season.
Morrow, who has amassed a 178-77-3 record in 23 years as head coach, is known for scheduling a demanding non-league schedule to prepare his team for Bay League competition.
This year is no exception, with three of the five non-league teams ranked in the top five in their respective divisions in the CIF Southern Section preseason polls.
In 2014, Mira Costa was overwhelmed in its season opener losing to Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 70-34 but will host Torrance this season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Waller Stadium.
“We want to keep playing a tough non-conference schedule but also add more of a local flavor with teams like Torrance and West,” Morrow said. “Coach [Rock] Hollis has been at Torrance as long as we’ve been here at Costa, but the last time we played was sometime around 2000. Torrance was real competitive with both West and North in the Pioneer League last season so this will be a good game between us, and also a good game for South Bay football.”
On Sept. 10, Mira Costa will begin a three-game stretch facing highly-ranked opponents when the Mustangs travel to take on La Serna (No. 5, Southeast Div.). The boys from the beach will then host Trabuco Hills (No. 3, Southwest Div.) and West Torrance (No. 3, Western Div.) before traveling to Newport Harbor.
Despite losing senior quarterback Jacob Silvera, who transferred to rival Redondo, junior David Arredondo (6-2, 215) is primed to take over as signal caller for the varsity squad.
Arredondo led the Mira Costa junior varsity team to a 10-0 record in 2014 under head coach Matt Baker.
Baker will serve as the new offensive coordinator for Morrow this season, bringing a talented group from his JV team with him.
“Because Arredondo played all the games with Matt last year, those two already have a good working relationship,” Morrow said. “Several receivers who played with Dave last season will also play big roles for us too. The real onus falls on Coaches [Chuck] Arrasmith, [Sean] Finnerty and Baker to find that offensive line nucleus. We have some guys who are very capable, and one of the things teams like Trabuco Hills and PV proved to us last season is that you don’t have to have huge guys on your o-line to have some success.”
The offense will also rely on experienced returners led by senior running back Omar Morrison (5-9, 165) who averaged 8.2 yards per carry while rushing for 386 yards and five touchdowns in 2014.
Senior running back Justus Tavai (6-3, 230) and brother sophomore Jonah Tavai (5-11, 270) will help pound the ball and tight end Cameron Williams (6-5, 215) will help in the running and passing games.
Receivers Brandon Espeso (5-7, 150) and Ta’utino Sione (6-1, 210) return to help the aerial assault.
“We think our offensive personnel for this season is much more tailored to the spread offense, where you need four quality receivers, combined with a good running back and quarterback, and we definitely feel as if we have those kids,” Morrow said. “Morrison had a beautiful season last year. What we don’t have are the big offensive linemen to be an [power] I-Back team that just knocks you off the ball, which is the way I tend to like to play, so I’ve handed the play calling over to Baker who has a much better feel for the spread offense.”
Morrow has a good feeling about his aggressive – yet inexperienced – defense.
“We have between 11 and 15 high quality kids who are really aggressive and possess a defensive mentality by nature,” Morrow explained. “We have several sophomores who’ll play prominent roles on varsity. Safety Brian Loudermilk (5-7, 165) plays like he’s a senior and defensive back Spencer Gilbert (6-0, 170) has had an unbelievable offseason. Upfront we have Jonah Tavai on the nose who could have been our best player of the entire school last season but we weren’t allowed to use him on varsity because he was too young by CIF rules.”
Morrow is excited to get the season underway.
“The road to the Bay League championship runs through [defending champion] Palos Verdes and so you have to rank them first, Redondo second, and maybe us, Inglewood or Peninsula third,” he said. “The only reason I’d hold off on Morningside is that they’re short on numbers and depth, but they’ll have some athletic kids over there. Because our season went the way it did last year, we don’t deserve to be considered in the top two spots right away, but I have a lot of confidence that we will be that kind of team.”
Mira Costa Schedule
Sept. 4 Torrance
Sept. 10 @ La Serna
Sept. 18 Trabuco Hills
Sept. 25 West
Oct. 2 @ Newport Harbor
Oct. 9 @ Palos Verdes (3pm)
Oct. 16 Peninsula
Oct. 23 Inglewood
Oct. 30 @ Morningside
Nov. 6 Redondo
All games start at 7 p.m. unless noted
