Mustangs produce first win

COSTA MESA — Todd Davis and Brian Waldron found their groove.

Travis Whitlock, Carlos Vazquez and the rest of the defense, were on their game.

Josh Erno’s electrifying dash capped a big night.

After suffering losses to Corona del Mar High and Beckman in the first two weeks of the season, the Costa Mesa Mustangs notched their initial victory of the season Thursday by handling visiting Saddleback, 28-14, at Jim Scott Stadium.

Costa Mesa set the tone early and never let up. The Mustangs led, 21-0, through three quarters.

“I’m happy we got the win, no doubt, but as a coach, I was only disappointed in that it wasn’t a clean game for us,” Mustangs Coach Jeremy Osso said. “I thought we did a real good job all around but we had a couple of turnovers and we shot ourselves in the foot on a few occasions.

“Still, I’ll take this win. It’s great for the kids.”

The Mustangs (1-2) set the tone early and controlled the game from the start.

After taking over on its 20-yard line following a punt by Saddleback (0-2), Costa Mesahad a 27-yard pass from Todd Davis to Luis Gomez, and then an 11-yard Gomez run to put the ball at the Saddleback 42.

Three plays later, Tyler Sheffner scored on a bruising, 15-yard run. The junior burst up the middle on his first carry of the night and shook off a would-be tackler inside the five and bounded into the end zone. Jairo Farfan’s conversion kick gave the Mustangs a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter.

Costa Mesa struck again late in the half, thanks to a timely play by Davis and Waldron.

For much of the first half, Waldron had been quiet while the Mustangs tried to establish their run game. But with 4:02 to go before halftime, the senior streaked down the right side line and hauled in a 62-yard scoring pass from Davis. Waldron took in stride a perfectly-placed pass by Davis at the Saddleback 32 on a third-down play. He raced down the sideline toward the end zone and escaped an attempted shoestring tackle at the eight-yard line by a diving Luis Soto, to reach pay dirt. Farfan’s kick gave the Mustangs a 14-0 halftime lead.

Costa Mesa 28, Saddleback 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Saddleback 0-0-0-14--14

Costa Mesa 7-7-7-7--28

FIRST QUARTER

CM – Sheffner 15 run (Farfan kick), 5:30.

SECOND QUARTER

CM – Waldron 62 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 4:02.

THIRD QUARTER

CM – Waldron 57 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 4:50.

FOURTH QUARTER

Sad – Ochoa 1 pass from Candelas (kick failed), 10:32.

CM – Erno 89 kickoff return (Farfan kick), 10:20.

Sad – Correa 15 pass from Candelas (Candelas run), 1:57.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Sad – Soto, 1-14; Castaneda, 12-9; Candelas 5-minus-4.

CM – Alvis, 2-28; Sheffner, 7-26; Davis, 7-26; Eno, 4-24; Gomez, 2-12; Garduno, 1-6; Quinones, 2-minus-3; Garces, 3-minus-6. 

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Sad – Candelas, 20-44-3, 330, 1 TD.

CM – Davis, 11-15, 240 yards, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Sad – Correa, 11-184, 1 TD; Ochoa, 5-123, TD; E. Rodriguez, 1-11; Bello, 1-7; Soto, 1-5.

CM – Waldron, 5-159, 2 TDs; Gomez, 5-74; Marquez, 1-7.