“It’s way important,” Costa Mesa senior Luis Gomez said of his team’s second straight win in the annual crosstown showdown. “This is the second year in a row that we have made this our house.”
The Costa Mesa students chimed in during the closing seconds, chanting “This-is-our-house,” as Coach Jeremy Osso’s Mustangs backed up the pregame banner they broke through that read, in part: “This is our house and it’s our bell [perpetual trophy].”
In contrast, a sign at the top of the Estancia bleachers that read “You [Mustangs] may be [the] home [team], but this is our house,” was rendered erroneous.
The Mustangs scored on the opening possession of each half and rode an efficient passing attack, an effective ground game and solid defense to their sixth straight win in Orange Coast League play.
Costa Mesa, which won the outright league crown last season after splitting it with Estancia is 2007, got big performances from seniors Josh Erno, Todd Davis, Luis Gomez, Brian Waldron and Travis Whitlock, among others.
Erno rushed for 93 yards on 19 carries, completed both of his third-down passes to move the chains, had three receptions for 27 yards, and had a sack on fourth down to all but thwart Estancia’s comeback bid with 6:48 left in the contest.
Davis, who left the field with a cracked rib last season against Estancia, completed 15 of 28 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Four would-be completions were dropped by open receivers and he did not throw an interception. Davis, who had eight completions go for first downs, also rushed for 15 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked only once.
