Garden Grove's Webb is 2010 offensive player of the year

Josh Webb put the "high" in highlights.

To understand why, let's go back to Dec. 10 at Orange Coast College, the date and site of the CIF-SS Southern Division championship game. Garden Grove vs. Beckman. The Argonauts trailed by seven points with 1:27 remaining.

Webb had given the Argos a crucial first down on a fourth-down reception. They soon had the ball on the Beckman 5 when quarterback Jovani Duran threw a quick pass to his right, and Webb caught it at the line of scrimmage. Webb faked his way past one defender and then, quicker than you can say "YouTube," he high-jumped over another defender and into the end zone before somersaulting on his landing for a touchdown.

Garden Grove could have tied the score with a kick for the extra point. But when you have Josh Webb and you are a couple of yards away from the end zone and the lead, you don't kick the football. You give it to Josh Webb.

Beckman knew who was getting the ball, and it was Webb who took a handoff, ran to his right and vaulted over the goal line, teammates and Beckman players for the two points that provided the final score, 31-30, and gave Garden Grove its first CIF football championship.

Webb rushed for 191 yards and a touchdown and had 10 receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns against Beckman. Oh, he also played cornerback, returned kicks and played quarterback.

He had been doing this sort of thing all season, which is why Webb has been selected The Orange County Register and OCVarsity offensive player of the year for 2010.

RELATED:

2010 All-County football: first team

Servite's Inman in the 2010 defensive player of the year

Santa Margarita's Welch is the 2010 football coach of the year

2010 All-County football: second team

2010 All-County football: third team

All-County football: Looking behind the scenes

Webb, a 6-foot-1, 172-pound senior, led Orange County in touchdowns, with 38. There were 44 Orange County football teams that scored fewer touchdowns than Webb did. He rushed for 1,506 yards, 13th-most in the county, averaging 9 yards a carry. He had 46 receptions for 937 yards, for 20 yards a reception.

As a part-time quarterback, Webb was 37 of 60 passing (62 percent) for 424 yards with 17 touchdowns against only one interception. The 17 touchdowns tied for the 10th most touchdown passes in Orange County this season.

Sean Young was the Garden Grove quarterback in 2009, when the Argonauts lost to La Mirada in the Southern Division final. Young was the Garden Grove League player of the year, and he was a senior. Going into 2010, Grove needed to find a quarterback to replace Young, and Argos coach Willy Puga settled on Duran and Webb to share duties.

"Coach said, 'We're going to put the ball in your hands, because we trust you,'" Webb said. "So I gave it a try, and it was a good experience."

Puga said Webb grew not only as a football player, but as a teammate in 2010. He missed a practice or two in '09, something Puga said could not happen if Webb was going to be a senior leader.

"We told Josh, 'You're going to have to be here every day,'" Puga said. "He had to become a more vocal leader, and that's what he did."

Webb, also a good basketball player, wants to continue playing football after graduating from Garden Grove. Still working on improving himself academically, Webb will attend a local community college for the next two years.

It was a great all-around season for a great all-around player, perhaps best exemplified by that splendid running and receiving effort in the championship game victory against Beckman in that Southern Division final ... and it was something Pac-5 coaches said he could've done in their division as well.

Webb gave a simple explanation for the touchdown and the 2-point conversion in those final moments.

"I got the ball, I looked for an opening and I just went for it," Webb said.

And, yes, he has checked out the Internet videos of both plays.

"Plenty of times," Webb said. "It's crazy, watching myself. I'm thinking, 'Is that really me?'"

Yes, Josh. That's you, all right. Running with it, catching it and throwing it.

Could he have done any more than was previously explained here?

Yes, he could. And he did.

In the first quarter of the CIF championship game, he went airborne to block a Beckman kick on an extra-point attempt. Remember the score? That's right, 31-30.

Josh Webb, the best offensive player in county football – by leaps and bounds.