Lions throw Mesa for another loss

Barry Faulkner

Costa Mesa High football fans waiting for a significant payoff in

Friday night’s Golden West League opener at Westminster High were

finally rewarded in the final 30 seconds.

But, despite Jeff Waldron’s heroic 19-yard catch-and-run touchdown

with a Ryan French pass to finalize the Mustangs’ deficit at 42-7, it

remains to be seen when the biggest dividend -- victory -- can be

expected.

Mesa (0-5) is off to its worst start since an 0-10 season in 1989

and its losing streak was extended to seven by a powerful and

efficient Westminster squad (3-2).

“We didn’t play well,” Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin said. “I’m

disappointed in me. I’d solve [the Mustangs’ woes] if I could.”

It was, however, less Costa Mesa breakdowns than prominence

displayed by the Lions, before a homecoming crowd of 1,600.

Westminster, which has won six of its last seven league games,

scored on its first three possessions and never looked back.

By contrast, the Mesa offense was often forced to look backward to

chart the progress of its ballcarrier. Exactly half (15) of Mesa

plays that were not pass attempts, were stopped behind or at the line

of scrimmage, including five sacks for minus 33 yards.

Costa Mesa had only three running plays gain more than 6 yards and

Jorge Quiroz’s 13-yard pickup late in the first half was its only run

that went for double digits.

Quiroz’s “burst,” which allowed the visitors to convert on

fourth-and-three, marked Mesa’s deepest penetration into Westminster

territory -- the Lions’ 32-yard line -- until the visitors finally

produced some offensive fireworks on their final two possessions.

Down, 42-0, after the Westminster second unit went 73 yards on 11

plays for a touchdown, French hit Waldron in stride along the

sideline for a 58-yard gain to the Lions’ 21 midway through the final

period.

The drive stalled, then ended when a fourth-down pass was batted

down by a defender in the end zone.

But Mesa’s defense, which kept coming, despite being somewhat

overpowered by a more physical Lion offense, held and forced

Westminster into what would have been its first punt.

But a bad snap allowed Mesa to tackle the Westminster punter at

the Lions’ 19, creating a final scoring chance.

Waldron, who caught five passes for 116 yards -- accounting for

more than 78% of the Mustangs’ 148 yards of offense -- helped Mesa

avert what would have been its first scoreless outing since Week 9 of

the 1997 season against Laguna Hills, a span of 72 games.

Waldron’s late touchdown, however, only lessened what turned out

to be Mesa’s most lopsided loss in 66 games, since a 48-6 drubbing by

Westminster in Week 4 of the 1998 campaign.

Waldron, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior receiver, has now produced

the last four Mustang touchdowns, over a span of 11 quarters.

Senior running back Carlos Brooks scored three TDs for the Lions

Friday, amassing 194 rushing yards on 21 attempts.

Westminster ran for 316 of its 412 offensive yards against a Mesa

defense modified from its usual four-four alignment to a six-two

scheme.

Mesa linebackers Randy Fea, Cameron Wynglarz, Jasbir Seewat and

Waldron were forced to make most of the tackles, as Lion runners

frequently broke through the neutral zone without being touched.