Mesa stalwart collects plaudit

Rick Devereux

Despite playing for a team that finished 2-8, Costa Mesa High’s Jeff

Waldron was named the Golden West League’s Offensive Player of the

Year. The senior tight end highlights 13 Costa Mesa and Estancia

all-league selections.

Waldron, a first-team all-league honoree as a junior, was the

Golden West League leader with 42 catches for 757 receiving yards and

eight touchdowns. He was also the Mustangs’ starting outside

linebacker.

Joining Waldron as first-team selections are Mesa teammates Bryce

Carich, Tyler Legg and Ryan Bagwell as well as Estancia’s Geo Macias,

Ian Morton and Ryan Sanford.

Second-team picks include the Eagles’ Bryce McKendry, Clayton

Mills and Ezequiel Villalvazo as well as Costa Mesa’s Rodrigo

Gutierrez, Ryan French and Juan Diaz.

Carich, a second-team selection last year, was the Mustangs’

starting left guard throughout the season. The senior anchored a line

that paved the way for 1,599 team rushing yards on 411 carries. The

6-foot-3, 255-pounder also played along the defensive line, starting

four games at tackle and two at end.

Legg (5-10, 175) was third in the league with 1,049 rushing yards.

The junior tailback averaged 5 yards per carry and scored nine

rushing touchdowns.

Bagwell, a junior kicker, led the Golden West League with 11 punts

inside the 20-yard line. He averaged 33.6 yards per punt on a

league-high 41 kicks. He also made 20 of 23 conversion kicks and

nailed a 36-yard field goal against Santa Ana, the longest field goal

in the league this season.

Macias was a first-team all-league selection last year for

Estancia. The senior receiver led the Eagles with a 15.1 yards per

catch average after grabbing 18 passes for 272 yards and three

touchdowns. He also handled the punting and kicking duties for

Estancia and also started at cornerback.

Morton (6-4, 270) was a two-way starter along the line. He was

also the Eagles’ long-snapper and there were games he did not leave

the field, playing offense, defense and special teams.

Sanford (6-1, 183) was an active outside linebacker and receiver.

The senior led the Eagles with 31 receptions for 368 yards with one

touchdown and was one of the hard hitters on defense.

McKendry, like Sanford, did not play football in 2003, but the

senior led Estancia with 603 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 125

carries to earn a spot on the all-league second team. He was also a

force at inside linebacker.

Villalvazo made plays as a junior cornerback for Estancia,

intercepting passes and blanketing receivers all season long.

Mills worked his way from reserve tight end and linebacker to a

starting job at outside ‘backer. He was also a standout on special

teams. He returned a fumble 63 yards for a touchdown against Corona

del Mar and blocked a punt against Garden Grove to set up an Estancia

touchdown.

Gutierrez (6-4, 275) was Costa Mesa’s starting left tackle. A

second-team selection last year, the senior also played defensive

tackle.

French became the first Costa Mesa quarterback in recent memory to

throw for more than 200 yards when he finished with 201 passing

yards, completing 11 of 22 attempts with two touchdowns against

Huntington Beach in Week 3. The junior finished second in the Golden

West League with 1,100 passing yards and seven touchdown passes.

Diaz (6-1, 275) started at defensive tackle for the Mustangs and

was a solid run-stopper. The junior had two fumble recoveries and an

interception.

The league’s Most Valuable Player is Westminster running back

Carlos Brooks.

Westminster linebacker Ernesto Mora is the Defensive Player of the

Year.