Mesa’s Waldron brave in loss

NEWPORT BEACH — The first call before making any in his first varsity start at quarterback, Brian Waldron phoned his older brother in Utah.

During the week leading up to Costa Mesa High’s game against Rancho Alamitos, Brian sought Cody’s advice. The former Mustangs’ starter kept it simple.

“He just told me to keep at it,” Brian said. “Mesa has struggled lately in football, but you just got to keep on playing.”

The sophomore practically never took a down off Friday. The week before Costa Mesa suffered its most lopsided season-opening defeat in school history.

The only thing more lopsided to Waldron was the football. He still was solid throwing it, handing it off, even picking one off at safety, but his all-around effort wasn’t enough in a 26-0 loss at Newport Harbor.

The shortest player probably on the field survived. The three-sport athlete claims he’s 5-foot-9. Coach Jeremy Osso said Waldron’s a “5-foot-nothing,” but you can’t beat his courage.

The Vaqueros tried after knocking out Costa Mesa’s top threat. Running back Antwon Byrd left the game in the third quarter with a hip flexor problem, finishing with 15 yards on 11 carries, falling way short of last week’s 184-yard performance.

Only three times did the defense allow Costa Mesa (0-2) to gain a first down. The defense chased Waldron around all night. Finally someone buried him for a 14-yard loss in the fourth with the game out of reach.

No alluding trouble with his legs this time. Waldron finished with 52 yards passing, completing five of 13 passes, but he didn’t hurt the offense much.

“He’s a smart kid that doesn’t make many mistakes,” said Osso, who will start Waldron again against Irvine (2-0) next week. “He’s the last male member of this Waldron [family] coming through. There’s no ‘give up’ in him.”

Even though for a newbie the play calling in the first half sure made it rough for Waldron to throw.

A couple of times the right-hander rolled to his left, putting him in awkward situations as he threw against his body. The first time he scrambled for his life, Waldron saw a wide-open receiver frantically waving his arms early in the second.

It took Waldron time to adjust, setting himself before firing a pass that looked as though the receiver would haul in around midfield before racing in for a 71-yard score. The receiver, shocked Waldron could make the pass under duress, dropped it.

Two plays later, Costa Mesa punted, something it did seven times. Too many, allowing Rancho Alamitos time to click offensively in its season opener.

In the first half, Costa Mesa contained running back Justin Evans, limiting him to 31 yards, before he finished with a career-high 158 yards on 18 carries.

But the defense, with no time on the clock, allowed a touchdown pass as the Vaqueros took a 6-0 lead into halftime.

SECOND QUARTER

RA – Collier 11 pass from Willis (kick failed), :00

THIRD QUARTER

RA – Flores 6 run (Hanna kick), 7:52

RA – Willis 1 run (Hanna kick), 6:02

RA – Collier 15 pass from Willis (kick failed), 1:23

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

RA – Evans 18-158; Willis 15-30, 1 TD; DeValle, 3-8; Flores 3-7, 1 TD; Serrano 2-(-1)

CM – Byrd 11-15; Argumedo 6-16; De La Mater 3-8; Waldron 6-(-3); Gemayel 2-(-3)

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

RA – Willis 9-20-1, 83, 2 TDs; Frank 1-1-0, 6

CM – Waldron 5-13-0, 52

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

RA – Collier 5-56, 2 TDs; Evans 4-27; Majid 1-6,

CM – Argumedo 1-22; Telles 1-13; Gyorfi 1-10; Pederson 1-7; Byrd 1-0