won its first playoff game since 1997<\/a> and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 14 quarterfinals.<\/p>\nAnaheim fell to 3-4, 1-1.<\/p>\n
![\"Costa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760397248_853_\")
<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa defenders Adrian Ruiz (34) and Alvaro Aceves (30) drag down Anaheim\u2019s Lloyd Nolasco (1) for a loss on Friday.<\/p>\n
(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa is tied for first place in the six-team league with Bolsa Grande, which visits on Friday night for the Mustangs\u2019 Homecoming game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really helpful to have continuity in a program, wherever you\u2019re at,\u201d Mustangs coach Gary Gonzalez said. \u201cThese kids have been playing for me for four years. They understand the standard that we\u2019re trying to teach here, they understand the work ethic. It all starts in the weight room, man. We start back up in December, when the season is over. These kids have sacrificed so much, and they\u2019re doing a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garza, who has topped 100 yards rushing in six of Costa Mesa\u2019s seven games this season, got there in the first half Friday. The 5-foot-7 back is tough to bring down, and he spun off a tackle about 10 yards downfield on a 48-yard touchdown run on the opening possession of the game.<\/p>\n
![\"Costa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760397248_237_\")
<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa safety Brandon Haro (22) breaks up a pass play during a Tango League football game against Anaheim on Friday.<\/p>\n
(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
He would later have a 56-yard burst up the middle to the end zone in the second quarter, before capping his scoring with a two-yard score in the third. It was the sixth multi-touchdown game of the year for Garza, who has 19 rushing scores.<\/p>\n
After the game, Garza made sure to thank his offensive line, with Sebastian Suarez, Israel Lopez, Will Wedgwood, Yosgart Munoz and Jamie Gutierrez opening up the holes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that hard work we put in the summer feels like it\u2019s been paying off,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been perfect. This is exactly how we wanted our season to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Costa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760397249_415_\")
<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa\u2019s Vance Kirby (6) is elated after sacking Anaheim quarterback Jacob Campos (4) during Friday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Waiss tossed touchdown passes to Ruben Sanchez and his favorite receiver on the night, Caden Oliver. He also showed his running ability, carrying the ball three times for 51 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Garza] really is a workhorse, and it also helps when we have a quarterback in Andrew Waiss who\u2019s able to pull [the ball and run] at any time, and we can keep the defense honest with him,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cIt\u2019s a dual threat in the backfield, and it\u2019s paid off very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense was also tough against Anaheim dual-threat quarterback Jacob Campos and receiver Joshua Eli Sanchez, who did haul in 10 passes. Brandon Haro and Ayden Watson had second-half interceptions for the winners, and Kirby recovered a fumble in the red zone.<\/p>\n
![\"Costa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760397250_279_\")
<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa running back Gavin Garza (5) and head coach Gary Gonzalez celebrate a touchdown during a Tango League football game against Anaheim on Friday.<\/p>\n
(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa is allowing just 10.1 points per game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our tenacity and our aggression on defense,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cWe have three shutouts on the season \u2026 [and] we are communicating on offense, everyone knowing their assignments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa has not won a league championship since 2013, but has put itself in the position to be in that conversation this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the games that get us into the playoffs, the games that really do count,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cWe said that we have to take it away from Anaheim, take that league championship away from them. They were the league champions last year, and our goal was to earn every inch and take it away from them. These kids put a tremendous amount of work in throughout the week, and I\u2019m really proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Costa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760397250_806_\")
<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa defensive tackle Israel Lopez (77) wraps up Anaheim quarterback Jacob Campos (4) for a sack on Friday.<\/p>\n
(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Tango League<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa 37, Anaheim 14<\/p>\n
SCORE BY QUARTERS<\/p>\n
Anaheim 0 – 7 – 0 – 7 \u2014 14<\/p>\n
Costa Mesa 10 – 14 – 7 – 6 \u2014 37<\/p>\n
FIRST QUARTER<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Garza 48 run (Alcala kick), 9:57.<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Alcala 37 FG, 1:16.<\/p>\n
SECOND QUARTER<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Sanchez 15 pass from Waiss (Alcala kick), 9:31.<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Garza 56 run (Alcala kick), 4:46.<\/p>\n
A \u2014 Aviles 2 pass from Campos (Saim kick), 0:43.<\/p>\n
THIRD QUARTER<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Garza 2 run (Alcala kick), 5:37.<\/p>\n
FOURTH QUARTER<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Oliver 9 pass from Waiss (kick blocked), 7:25.<\/p>\n
A \u2014 Campos 1 run (Saim kick), 3:35.<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING<\/p>\n
A \u2014 Campos, 9-25, 1 TD.<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Garza, 21-152, 3 TDs.<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL PASSING<\/p>\n
A \u2014 Campos, 15-27-2, 155, 1 TD.<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Waiss, 12-18-0, 134, 2 TDs.<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING<\/p>\n
A \u2014 Sanchez, 10-123.<\/p>\n
CM \u2014 Oliver, 6-54, 1 TD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vance Kirby hung around the Costa Mesa High football field a bit longer than most of his teammates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3374,163,165,164,3379,3375,3372,3378,423,3371,3376,2668,3380,3373,3377,1539,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-2527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-alcala-kick","9":"tag-anaheim","10":"tag-anaheim-headlines","11":"tag-anaheim-news","12":"tag-campos","13":"tag-cm","14":"tag-costa-mesa","15":"tag-first-quarter-cm","16":"tag-game","17":"tag-gavin-garza","18":"tag-last-season","19":"tag-run","20":"tag-saim-kick","21":"tag-touchdown-pass","22":"tag-waiss","23":"tag-yard","24":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}