Andrew Andrade carries the ball for Orange Friday night. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone)
The Orange High football team continued to rack up the points and the victories.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
Friday night at Costa Mesa High Panthers running back Isac Galvan rushed for 121 yards and scored three touchdowns and quarterback Daylen Pedroza rushed for 123 yards, scored a touchdown and threw a TD pass as Orange cruised to a 43-0 victory over the Mustangs in an Orange Coast League game.
“After we started off slow, we picked it up after we got apep talk,” said Pedroza, who completed 12 passes for 175 yards a TD. “I feel I’m gaining more confidence as I’m gaining more game experience.”
The Panthers, ranked fifth in the CIF Division 10 Poll, entered Friday’s game averaging 54.2 points per game while limiting their opponents to 12.5 points per game. The only blemish on Orange’s record this season was a double OT loss to Yorba Linda in the second game of the season. The Panthers have outscored their opponents 369-75 so far this season.
Orange (6-1, 2-0) has won five consecutive games and appears to be on a collision course with Santa Ana for the league title. The two teams play Friday, Nov. 1 at the Santa Ana Bowl.
The Mustangs have lost four in a row and fell to 2-5, 0-2.
The game was halted with 10:42 left to play when Costa Mesa sophomore cornerback Khory Yacht was injured while on offense. The game was stopped and paramedics were called to the scene. Yacht was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment. His condition was updated on Saturday by Costa Mesa Coach Jimmy Nolan.
“Football is secondary when something like this happens,” said Nolan after the game. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt. We’ll all be down at the hospital with Khory and his family tonight.”
Orange coach Robert Pedroza also commented how unfortunate injuries are during a game.
“This is the worst part of the game,” said Pedroza. “You never want to see a kid hurt. We feel for the Costa Mesa fans, kids, parents, school and families.”
Orange marched 63 yards in six plays on their opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. Following a 22-yard pass play from Pedroza to Isac Adetoye, Andrew Andrade capped the drive by racing into the end zone from 14 yards to give the Panthers the early lead.
“We were prepared for all of their trick plays and I thought we played great tonight,” said Andrade, who also caught three passes for 69 yards.
The Orange defense forced a turnover on the following Costa Mesa possession but then the Panthers offense lost a fumble at the Mustangs 4-yard line and Orange’s drive was stalled.
The Orange defense countered right back as Andrade picked off a pass deep in Mustangs territory. The Panthers capitalized and upped its lead to 14-0 on the final play of the first quarter as Galvan scored on a 4-yard TD run.
Costa Mesa held the ball for the first six minutes of the second quarter and advanced to the Panthers 23-yard line but Dylan Oliver’s 40-yard field goal attempt came up a bit short and Orange took over.
The Panthers needed only 7 plays to go 80 yards and increase its lead to 21-0. Pedroza scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. As the clock ticked down in the half, Galvan scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run. Orange converted a 2-point play and took a commanding 29-0 halftime lead.
The Panthers rushed for 201 yards in the opening half and racked up 317 yards of offense. Orange’s defense led by linebackers Nathan Cook, Jeremiah Rivera and Chris Quiroga and defensive end Blaze Iglesias forced two turnovers and held Costa Mesa to under 20 yards rushing in the first half.
“We all did our jobs and we played hard,” said Rivera. “Each week we are battling and getting stronger.”
Mustangs quarterback Joe Paxton did connect on four long pass plays in the first half for nearly 100 yards but the Mustangs were unable to get on the scoreboard. Costa Mesa’s defense also forced two turnovers, including an interception by Ryan Bourbeau, in the first half.
Pedroza tossed a TD pass to Adetoye and Galvan added a touchdown run in the third quarter to close out the panthers scoring.
“We’re playing well as a unit and our defense and our OLine are really picking it up,” Galvan said.
Coach Pedroza said it was a good win but there is still work to be done.
“We did make a lot of mistakes that we are going to have to clean up,” said Pedroza. “I think our quarterback and O-line really played well.”
Instead of the tradition of lining up and shaking hands at the end of the game, both teams huddled at midfield, knelt down and prayed for Khory Yacht. It was a touching moment that displayed amazing sportsmanship and compassion by both teams.
STATS
RUSHING: O: Galvan 13-121, Pedroza 9-123; CM, Bourbeau 12-15.
PASSING: O: Pedroza 12-17-1, 175 yards, TD; O, Paxson 7-24-1, 104 yards.
RECEIVING: O: Andrade 3-69, Ayala 3-30; O, Bourbeau 2-27, Burton 1-32.
UPDATE: Injured Costa Mesa player will be OK, coach says
-Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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