Costa Mesa football preview

Costa Mesa vs. Katella

Where/when: Jim Scott Stadium, Thursday night, 7

Key Mustangs: Sr. RB Mario Smith (303 yards, three TDs rushing); Sr. QB Nathan Alvis (243 yards, three TDs passing); Sr. WR-DB Jordan Walden (six catches, 116 yards, one TD); So. LB-FB Oronde Crenshaw.

Key Knights: Jr. QB Robert Resendez (98 yards passing, 70 rushing); Sr. WR-DB Daniel Dares (three catches, 28 yards, one TD); SR. RB-DB Robert Caputo.

Breakdown: The Mustangs (1-1) are coming off their first win of the season, a 42-7 romp over Santiago to give Coach Wally Grant his first victory at the helm … Katella (1-0) opened with a 17-14 win over Sunny Hills … Katella won last year’s game, 35-34, in overtime after Mesa rallied from a 26-7 halftime deficit to knot it at 28-28 in regulation … Katella QB Robert Resendez ran for the overtime TD and kicked the PAT, before Mesa scored and was sacked on its two-point conversion attempt … Alvis rushed for 106 yards and threw for 82 yards and two TDs last year against the Knights … Resendez has had a hand in all three of his team’s scores this season, rushing for a TD, throwing for another and kicking a 28-yard field goal … Resendez missed a 45-yard field-goal try at the end of regulation last season … It’s the Mustangs’ first home game of 2011.

— Barry Faulkner