Vaqueros vanquish Mustangs

GARDEN GROVE — A fourth coach in four years meant the Costa Mesa High football team would spend the early part of the season learning.

School continued to be in session Thursday. The location of class was Bolsa Grande High and Rancho Alamitos was doing the teaching. But Costa Mesa also added in some home schooling in learning from its own mistakes.

The score was 42-12, the grade was ‘L’ and the Mustangs dropped to 0-2 on the year as a result of the nonleague contest, Rancho Alamitos’ first game of the season.

Following the game, first-year coach Jeremy Osso did not lecture the team. Instead, he focused on the positives.

“We played much better in the second half,” Osso said. “I don’t think they are 30 points better than us. I thought the defense played better in spurts. The passing game was better; we gained a little more confidence in it. It’s important to take baby steps. But we’re still giving up too many big plays.”

In the second half, the defense denied the Vaqueros a first down three times on third down and once on two fourth downs. In the first half, the Vaqueros rarely saw third down because it had already moved the chains.

In the first half, the Mustangs were consistently beat on fade routes up the sideline with the defensive back losing sight of the receiver.

In the second half, the Vaqueros’ receivers were not allowed to roam as freely and quarterback Robby Willis went one for four to start the second half, after completing all five of his passes in the opening two quarters.

D.J. Lepper, in his first year at cornerback, said it was a matter of technique.

“Coach talked to me about it,” said the senior who also carried the ball 12 times for 35 yards. “He said, ‘Just throw your hands out there.’ I need to get a feel for him and know where he is.”

On offense, Costa Mesa senior Cody Waldron threw for 111 of his 138 yards in the second half, including a touchdown. Costa Mesa scored both of its touchdowns in the second half.

“We’ve just got to limit mistakes,” Waldron said. “We did some talking and we got it under control.”

Waldron’s lone touchdown pass showed signs of a team improving.

It came in the fourth quarter when Asa Hawks made the catch on a slant pattern and ran 25 yards, shedding three defenders along the way, into the end zone to cut the lead to 35-12.

Just three plays prior, Hawks had a pass bounce off his chest on the same pattern.

“He caught it and got hit by a couple guys and he broke free,” Waldron said.

The Mustangs had some favorable bounces in the second half.

Costa Mesa recovered the fifth Rancho fumble. The Vaqueros had recovered their first four in the first half.

But the biggest bounce landed in the awaiting arms of Lepper.

What started as a Mustangs’ kickoff return, turned into a fumble, which Lepper recovered. Lepper cut across the field and up the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown. London Sapolu, a 6-foot, 245-pound lineman maintained a block at the 50-yard line to spring Lepper the remainder of the way.

“We did a lot better in the second half,” Lepper said. “We just have to start over again. We just have to go back out to practice and get back at it.”

The Mustangs will practice today but without pads and will also watch game videotape.

But count on the Mustangs to be enthusiastic about returning to the classroom on and off the field.

“They’re good student-athletes,” Osso said. “They’re pretty down. They have to learn to crawl before they can walk.”

Mesa meets Huntington Beach Sept. 15 at Ornage Coast College.