Football Game Preview: Costa Mesa Mustangs vs. La Quinta Aztecs

The Costa Mesa Mustangs are taking a road trip to challenge the La Quinta Aztecs at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Costa Mesa has six straight wins, La Quinta has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Costa Mesa is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Bolsa Grande: they outscored them in every quarter. The Mustangs put the hurt on the Matadors with a sharp 29-6 victory on Friday. Considering the Mustangs have won seven matchups by more than 22 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Andrew Waiss was his usual excellent self, rushing for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 11 carries, while also throwing for 87 yards and one TD. Gavin Garza also helped out as he racked up 124 rushing yards.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Costa Mesa was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 309 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 185 rushing yards in 13 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Louis Arreola

Total Tackles

09/11/25 @ Savanna	1
08/22/25 vs Magnolia	5
08/29/25 vs Estancia	7
09/05/25 @ Godinez Fundamental	9
10/10/25 vs Anaheim	9

Costa Mesa didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jack Shafiyoon and Louis Arreola. Arreola also set a new season-high mark in total tackles with 16. He got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

The home team had won the previous three meetings between La Quinta and Loara, and Loara kept the tradition alive. The contest between the Aztecs and the Saxons didn't end well, with the Aztecs falling 27-12.

La Quinta now has a losing record of 3-4-1. As for Costa Mesa, their win bumped their record up to 7-1.

Costa Mesa didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against La Quinta when the teams last played back in October of 2024, but they still walked away with a 48-43 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Aztecs' Cooper Starnes, who rushed for 282 yards and five scores while picking up 14.1 yards per carry, and also picked up 43 receiving yards. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for the Mustangs to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.