IRVINE – Costa Mesa’s football team made quite a statement in its opener Friday night, winning one for new coach Glen Fisher.
The Mustangs stayed around until the end and pulled out a 15-10 nonleague victory over Northwood at Irvine.
Both teams showed signs of rust in the opener. Costa Mesa (1-0) had 11 penalties and Northwood (0-1) had 12.
Fisher, who coached at Beckman the past two years and coached at the same Irvine field a number of times, watched in joy as his players poured onto the field to cap the comeback.
Costa Mesa was 2-8 last year, but showed Friday night it could be a team to be reckoned with.
Mustangs senior Jonathan Brucales capped the comeback by scoring on a 29-yard touchdown run with 4:38 left in the game to put the Mustangs ahead.
Costa Mesa was unable to convert on the 2-point conversion.
Brucales, who rushed for 66 yards, also had a 1-yard TD run in the second quarter.
On their final drive, the Mustangs took over on their own 23-yard line and behind the passing of quarterback Ben Swanson, the running of Brucales and two pass interference penalties was able to get into scoring position.
Northwood quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who passed for 282 yards, tried to lead the Timberwolves back.
Northwood got near midfield but turned the ball over for the fifth time.
The Timberwolves moved ahead, 10-9, on a 37-yard field goal by Winston Li with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter. Costa Mesa opened the third quarter by taking a 9-7 lead on a bizarre play.
On a Northwood punt at the Timberwolves’ 34-yard line, the ball was snapped way over the head of Li, who rather than try and recover the ball, kicked it into the end zone for a safety.
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com