ALISO VIEJO – Trabuco Hills coach Joe Silvey said his team’s Sea View League opener against Aliso Niguel on Friday night served as a season restart after an unexpected 1-5 nonleague campaign.
So far, so good with the restart, as Silvey’s Mustangs overcame the Wolverines, 49-31, at Aliso Niguel High.
“I’m proud of our guys. They hung in there,” Silvey said. “It’s been a difficult season in the early goings.”
In its past two games Trabuco Hills is 2-0 and has outscored its opponents, 105-47, compared to its first five games when it went 0-5 and got outscored, 191-73.
The Mustangs (2-5, 1-0) did most of their damage on the ground, as running backs Chad Crosbie and Jake Cuero combined for 315 yards and six touchdowns. Crosbie picked up 190 of those yards and five of the touchdowns on 13 carries.
“It was awesome. I loved it,” Crosbie said after hugging his family postgame. “I enjoyed every minute of this game and running the ball was so fun.”
Crosbie silenced a packed stadium on pink-out night at Aliso Niguel when he sprinted nearly untouched into the end zone from 10 yards out to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game.
After an Aliso Niguel turnover on downs, Crosbie scored again, this time plowing through defenders from 20 yards out to put his team up 14-0 with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
“Our line blocked so well, too,” Crosbie said. “I’ve got to give credit to the coaches, too, for giving me the ball and calling the right plays.”
Aliso Niguel (2-6, 0-2) clearly missed its two leading tacklers, Ryan Souza and Bear Greene, who sat out Friday night with injuries. Mustangs coach Kurt Westling said he’s glad his team will now have a bye week to heal before closing the season against Capistrano Valley (5-3, 1-1) and San Clemente (5-2, 1-0).
Mustangs quarterback Nick Chapman went 33-of-51 passing for 343 yards and one 13-yard touchdown pass to Andre Cotton.
