Dan Bauer, Millennium Hall of Fame

The numbers bulge from the Costa Mesa High football annals like the

closing of a real estate loan.

But former wide receiver Dan Bauer, once described in the Daily Pilot

as having “grown up in a crib” with quarterback Bill Lux, produced

inflated figures in Orange County long before the housing market went

through the roof.

“Bill and I had a rapport -- he knew where I was going to be and I

knew where he was going to throw it,” Bauer said. “We would ad-lib a lot

our senior year.”

Bauer, who handles residential home loans and refinancing these days,

set an Orange County single-season record in the fall of 1979, catching

73 passes in an option-based offense under Coach Tom French.

Bauer, still the school’s career leader with 109 receptions in two

years, caught passes for 1,169 yards and a dozen touchdowns in ’79 as

Costa Mesa (7-5) reached the CIF Southern Section Central Conference

quarterfinals, losing to host San Clemente, 7-3, in a controversial

finish. (A referee ruled Bauer was out of bounds on an apparent

game-winning touchdown catch, a play that later on film revealed his feet

were in the end zone.)

Though Bauer’s county record was broken the following year by Costa

Mesa’s Steve Cook with 75 catches, his senior season delivered a flood of

postseason accolades, including first-team All-CIF Division III honors

(encompassing the Central, Eastern and Southeastern conferences).

“That was the highlight of my life, so to speak,” said Bauer, who was

named first-team All-South Coast League, first-team All-Orange Coast area

and first-team All-Orange County by the Daily Pilot.

Bauer, who caught 36 passes for 424 yards as a junior when the

Mustangs captured the South Coast League co-championship and also reached

the CIF quarterfinals in 1978, enjoyed a personal highlight in Week 2 of

his senior year.

After hauling in a dozen passes for 245 yards in the Mustangs’ 24-10

victory over Capistrano Valley, he was the Southland’s co-Athlete of the

Week (with Lux) by ABC Channel 7 sports anchor Ted Dawson, who presented

the award at “a huge pep rally” on campus.

That night, however, Mesa lost to San Clemente and fell from its No. 1

county ranking, while Lux got hurt and missed the next two weeks.

With junior Greg Teregis replacing Lux, the timing wasn’t quite the

same and Bauer caught only three passes in each of the next two contests.

But when Lux came back, the dynamic duo began lighting up defenses again,

starting with the Mission Viejo game, when Bauer caught nine passes for

144 yards and two touchdowns. (Bauer also returned a fumble recovery for

a touchdown.)

Bauer, also a basketball and golf standout at Mesa, earned a football

scholarship to Southern Utah State, but the experience at Cedar City,

Utah, was short-lived.

“I kind of freaked out,” said Bauer, who had broken his hand in the

summer of ’80 after graduating from high school and couldn’t get into

shape before arriving for football camp. “I wasn’t ready for college.”

Bauer returned home, much to the dismay of people close to him. “It

was probably the single biggest mistake I ever made, leaving school,”

Bauer said. “I have moved forward in life, but that decision haunts me.”

The next autumn (1981), Bauer went north and played football at Sierra

College in Rocklin, where he earned All-Bay Valley Conference his

sophomore year. But at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, Bauer’s future in

collegiate football ended there.

At Mesa, Bauer was one of two seniors on the 1980 golf team that

featured future PGA Tour star Dennis Paulson and won the Orange County

Championship. In the final round, Bauer shot 74, six strokes below his

average, as the Mustangs prevailed on the Chino Creek Course at El Prado

Golf Course.

A two-year varsity basketball player, Bauer was a self-described

“left-handed gunner” who made all-tournament at the Orange Holiday

Classic his senior year. “Teams would sit back in a zone defense, and I

would just salivate,” said Bauer, who liked basketball more than

football, but was more talented on the gridiron.

Bauer, a member of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating

the millennium, played basketball in various leagues until a year ago,

when he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament.

“Now,” said Bauer, 37, “I’m an active uncle.”

Bauer is single, lives in Costa Mesa and “is available.”