Pointing the way

Rick Devereux

Costa Mesa High Coach Tom Baldwin is realistic about his team’s

chances of rebounding from last week’s season opening, 21-7, loss to

Brea Olinda.

“You have to consider who you’re playing,” he said, referring to

Friday’s showdown against crosstown rival Corona del Mar (1-0). “They

are a lot better than us. Losing won’t be the end of our season. I’m

not giving up, but if we both play well, they will more than likely

win.”

Last week, the Mustangs had several chances to close the gap in

the game, but the momentum swung quickly back to the Wildcats. At the

start of the second quarter, the ball was stripped from a receiver’s

hands at the Brea 6-yard line to kill one scoring chance, and blown

coverage resulted in an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play from

scrimmage following Costa Mesa’s lone score of the game.

“When they stole the ball, it was 7-0 and we were going to score,”

Baldwin said. “Even the NFL has blown coverages. It was just a

miscommunication on who to pick up.”

Baldwin said he hopes to eliminate those mistakes against the Sea

Kings, citing last year’s close, 19-14, CdM win.

“We need to execute our basic offense,” he said. “We were able to

move the ball quite well against them last year.”

Baldwin said he won’t watch a lot of last year’s game film to

scout the Sea Kings, but rather the 35-14 victory over Estancia from

last week.

“They executed their offense very well and they’re leading

receivers [Kevin Welch and Shane Collins] didn’t even play in the

game,” he said. “They are a very good football team.”

The CdM option with Tom Welch at quarterback has Baldwin and the

Mesa coaching staff worried because, when performed correctly, the

option puts a lot of pressure on the defense.

“We have to tackle everybody,” he said. “The fullback, quarterback

and pitchman all have to be tackled. We have to be where we have to

be in order to defend the option. When someone can run the option

very well, it creates real problems. It cuts down on the amount of

blitzing you can play against them.”

And Mesa wants to have an attacking-type of defense this year.

Baldwin said added practice time for some key players will be useful.

“[Starting tailback and cornerback] Jorge Quiroz and [starting

wide receiver and back up defensive back] Evan Hunter only practiced

twice last week,” Baldwin said. “They both had little injuries, but

both are fine now and will get a full week of practices in, so that

should help.”