Mesa’s Davis red hot

COSTA MESA — Costa Mesa High senior quarterback Todd Davis spent most of the second half of Friday’s 42-6 win over Orange Coast League visitor Godinez by watching and cheering.

His mission, he said, was to encourage sophomore backup Nathan Alvis to “do better than me.”

That was a tall order indeed, after Davis threw for five touchdowns and ran for another at Estancia High in the most prolific game of his career.

Davis completed 13 of 21 passes for 301 yards. He connected on catch-and-run scoring passes of 71 and 65 yards and he utilized four receivers, all of whom wound up in the end zone after catching one of his deliveries.

He also scored on a two-yard run and finished with seven rushing yards on four attempts.

After throwing for 149 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 27-13 league-opening win over Estancia, Davis said his offensive line gave him enough time to read a book in the pocket.

Friday, he said he utilized that time to read the Grizzlies’ secondary.

“Honestly, the defense was easy to read,” said Davis, whose five touchdown passes are believed to be a school record. “I worked on reads all week, watching film to try to get ready for this game. And it paid off. I had enough time to read the defense and get the ball to my receivers.”

Davis’ numbers would have been better, had those receivers not dropped four catchable balls.

But he wasn’t quibbling.

“Our receivers are very good,” Davis said. “They did their jobs and the score speaks for itself.”

Senior Brian Waldron had six catches for 143 yards, including a 71-yard TD reception and another five-yard scoring toss.

Senior Josh Erno gashed Godinez for a 65-yard score on a post pattern as part of his three catches for 108 yards.

Senior Luis Gomez caught three passes for 46 yards, including a 10-yard score, and Christian Rangel rounded out the receiving haul by making his lone catch a four-yard touchdown.

“He did an amazing job of finding open receivers and playing within the offense,” Osso said of Davis, who, while suffering from a bruised hip, failed to complete any of his eight passes against Godinez in Costa Mesa’s 27-14 win last season. “He’s doing a good job of controlling the ball and putting it in the right people’s hands. It’s nice to have good athletes that you can get the ball to, but [Davis] is doing a good job of reading.

“I can’t confirm [that five TD passes is a school record] but to be part of six touchdowns is a great game by him.”

Osso also praised the offensive line, which for the second straight game surrendered only one sack.

“Our line has been doing a great job for a while now,” said Osso, whose team won its third straight game and has now won seven straight against Orange Coast League competition. “We’ve gotten much better at pass protecting. Our guys have developed a newfound love for pass blocking, which is nice.”

The Mustangs (5-3, 2-0 in league) gained some newfound respect for Godinez (2-6, 0-2), after the Grizzlies took a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

But Mesa scored on its next three possessions, marching 72, 75 and 85 yards, respectively. Then, after a three-and-out, the Mustangs scored on consecutive possessions, posting 14 points in 83 seconds to earn a 35-6 advantage.

Erno recovered a fumble to set the hosts up at the Godinez four-yard line with 1:14 left before intermission. But Osso ordered Davis to twice take a knee to run out the clock without inflicting further damage.

Still, with the memory of squandering a seemingly comfortable halftime cushion earlier this season in a 48-34 win against Century, Osso kept the starters in to open the third quarter.

Mesa went 80 yards on 14 plays with the second half kickoff to finalize the scoring, then emptied the bench.

Costa Mesa 42, Godinez 6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Godinez 6-0-0-0--0

Costa Mesa 14-21-7-0--42

FIRST QUARTER

Gdz – Pena 4 run (kick failed), 8:17.

CM – Rangel 4 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 6:35.

CM – L. Gomez 10 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 1:12.

SECOND QUARTER

CM – Waldron 5 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 7:12.

CM – Waldron 71 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 3:21.

CM – Erno 65 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 1:58.

THIRD QUARTER

CM – Davis 1 run (Farfan kick), 5:25.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Gdz – Amador, 12-44; V. Silva, 12-27; Pena, 6-24, 1 TD.

CM – Sheffner, 14-89; Alvis, 5-70; L. Gomez, 4-51; Erno, 2-12; Quinones, 2-8; Davis, 4-7, 1 TD; Curet, 3-7; Farfan, 1-3; Team, 3-minus 3; Luong, 2-minus 7.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Gdz – Silva, 3-10-0, 18.

CM – Davis, 13-21-0, 301, 5 TDs; Alvas, 0-1-0; Waldron, 0-1-0.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Gdz – Esparza, 3-18.

CM – Waldron, 6-143, 2 TDs; Erno, 3-108, 1 TD; L. Gomez, 3-46, 1 TD; Rangel, 1-4, 1 TD.