Mira Costa survived its first test of the young football season handing La Serna its first loss of the season in a rare Thursday night game held at Pioneer High School.
The Mustang defense shutout the Lancers in the second half to preserve a 17-14 victory over the third-ranked team in the CIF-SS Southeast Division.
Mira Costa (2-0) had moved into the No. 7 spot in the Western Division after an impressive win over Torrance in the season opener.
“We were really grateful to come out of there with a win, but also a good win against a good team under tough (hot) weather conditions,” Mira Costa head coach Don Morrow said. “It was also difficult in the sense that we had to play on Thursday night, but we played a complete four-quarter game which I’m happy about.”
Sophomore defensive back Spencer Gilbert had two interceptions in the contest, his second coming on La Serna’s final possession of the game to preserve the win. La Serna’s record dropped to 2-1.
Jacob Magleby and Jonah Tavai wreaked havoc in La Serna’s backfield, leading a stingy Mustang defense that allowed the Lancers to rush for only 27 yards in the game.
“Our defense really stepped up again, allowing only one touchdown, and we left about three or four pretty good scoring opportunities out there,” Morrow said. “We had the ball in the end zone untouched, but dropped it, and that would have made it 24-7 and perhaps given us much-needed  separation in a game like that.”
Mira Costa relied on a balanced offensive attack, gaining 193 yards through the air and 100 on the ground.
Mustang quarterback David Arredondo capitalized on Gilbert’s first interception, hitting tight end Cameron Alexander for a 4-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.
After La Serna marched 90 yards to tie the score, Mira Costa answered with a 27-yard field goal by Graham Lipps and Ta’utino Sione capped off an 82-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown reception to give the Mustangs a 17-7 halftime lead.
A 90-yard interception return by La Serna’s Daniel Campos closed the gap 17-14 but Mira Costa’s offense kept the ball out of the Lancer’s hands. The Mustangs drove inside the La Serna 30-yard line three times before turning the ball over on downs.
“When you go on the road, as is oftentimes the case, execution falters a little bit and La Serna certainly had something to do with that,” Morrow said. “We elected to go for it deep in La Serna territory and I’m not so sure that maybe kicking the three wasn’t the better thing to do since Graham (Lipps) was kicking the ball beautifully all night. Some of that is really on me for game management. Sometimes you may not be playing at your perfect-level best, but if you’re playing real hard and get just a little bit of fortune, you can do okay.”
Arredondo finished the game completing 19 of 34 passes for 193 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Omar Morrison rushed for 70 yards, Sione hauled in six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown, Chris Brown had three receptions for 64 yards and Brandon Espeso added four catches for 38 yards in the win.
In a battle of the Mustangs, Mira Costa returns home to play Trabuco Hills (0-3) in a 7 p.m. contest (No. 7 in Southwest Division) Friday, Sept 18.
Trabuco Hills lost to Fountain Valley 24-21 on Thursday, entering the game ranked No. 7 in the Southwest Division.
“Sometimes an 0-3 opponent is your most dangerous one, and Trabuco Hills are defending CIF champs who have a lot of pride in what they do,” Morrow said. “They’ve played three very good teams, and you can be sure they’re going to point toward this one as the one where they get their season started.”
Morrow compares the Trabuco Hills defense to his own with three linemen and three linebackers and expects a tough, physical game.
“We want to make sure our offense executes a little bit cleaner than it did against La Serna,” Morrow added. “We’ve had years before when we’ve started 1-2 or 0-3 and yet we’ve really liked our team. Just because you may start that way doesn’t mean for a second you don’t have a good team.”
