Two-Minute Drill: Recent surge has Estancia thinking playoffs
Coming off of an impressive win over Costa Mesa in the annual Battle for the Bell rivalry game, Estancia is in shape to make the CIF playoffs this year.
The Eagles followed up the win over Costa Mesa with a 31-14 victory over Laguna Beach. The Eagles (3-5 overall, 2-1 in league) blanked the Breakers in the second half, allowing Estancia to move into a tie for second place with Godinez, which trails Calvary Chapel by one game.
The Eagles play Godinez on Thursday at Jim Scott Stadium. The game between the two teams could determine who finishes second in the Orange Coast League.
*
Running back Jordan Balcazar, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury, but returned on Oct. 14, continues to be a spark for the Eagles. In the win over Laguna Beach, he recorded two touchdowns. One came in the second quarter after Jay Enciso recovered a fumble.
The other came in the third quarter which put the game out of reach. Head coach Mike Bargas was also impressed with Balcazar’s gameplay against Laguna Beach. “He’s been a pleasant surprise. He was running hard and he was hitting it hard.”
*
Bargas said that the win over rival Costa Mesa gave Estancia a boost in the game against Laguna Beach. “If we would’ve lost [to Costa Mesa] you just never know with 16 or 17 year old kids.” The only opponent that matters to the Eagles right now is Godinez.
Last year, Estancia beat the Grizzlies 35-14 at Segerstrom High. This year, Estancia is the home team and it will be the last regular season home game for the Eagles.
— Steve Virgen
*
Corona del Mar
Corona del Mar High moved closer to claiming its fourth straight Pacific Coast League title.
The Sea Kings took sole possession of first place in league with a 42-21 win at University on Friday. They handed the Trojans their first setback of the season.
The victory marked CdM’s 18th in a row in league.
With a win next week against Northwood (2-6, 1-2 in league) at Jim Scott Stadium, CdM (6-2, 3-0) can clinch at least a share of the league championship. The Sea Kings have finished atop the league in four out of the last five years.
Northwood, which is coming off a 45-13 loss to Woodbridge at Irvine High, has played CdM tough the past two seasons, losing by an average of 14 points per game.
“It seems like every time we play Northwood [the score is] 14-14 at [halftime] and we’re fighting for our lives,” CdM Coach Dan O’Shea said. “Defensively, they’re exceptionally well coached with J.C Clarke [as the defensive coordinator] and Dean Toohey [as the head coach]. It’s going to be a tight one.”
*
CdM’s Jaydin Moses said he didn’t expect to run the ball 27 times for 200 yards against University.
But that’s what the Sea Kings asked of Moses during a game that was tied at 21-21 after three quarters. The junior carried the load, setting career bests in carries and yards.
“We’re typically a passing team,” said Moses, who averaged 63 yards per game in the previous six games he played running back. “But it was a tight game. We had to be conservative toward the end. We just had to run down the clock.”
Moses capped the offense’s final scoring drive, rushing in from two yards out to help make it 35-21 late in the fourth quarter.
“To win a tough game, you have to pound the football,” said Moses, whose team ran 45 times for 268 yards and two touchdowns. “We were able to do it successfully.”
*
The Sea Kings made the necessary stops on defense to spoil University’s undefeated season.
The Trojans reached CdM’s 23 on their first drive and came away with zero points. On University’s possession to open the second half, it stalled on the Sea Kings’ 23.
University (7-1, 2-1 in league) turned the ball over on downs twice in the second half, and late in the game, CdM linebacker Blake Kormos picked off a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
Kormos also sacked quarterback Neil Boudreau. Bryce Claybaugh and Teddy Barber finished with 1.5 sacks each.
*
Chase Garbers threw for three touchdowns, giving the CdM junior quarterback 19 on the year. He has only thrown two interceptions, both coming in a 45-31 loss to Tesoro on Sept. 24.
Garbers ranks No. 1 in league for touchdown passes and he shares the No. 9 spot in Orange County with San Juan Hills’ Patrick O’Brien.
The CdM single-season record for touchdown passes is 27 set by Brent Lawson in 2011.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
*
Newport Harbor
*The Newport Harbor High football team (3-5, 1-2 in league) could not stop Los Alamitos for the second straight year in Friday night’s 49-0 Sunset League loss at Davidson Field.
Last year, the Griffins went for two in the fourth quarter to institute the running clock in their 62-27 victory. This year, the running clock started earlier. Los Alamitos, which snapped a five-game losing streak, took its 49-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
Overall, the visitors scored touchdowns on four of their six first-half possessions to take a 28-0 halftime lead. They then added three more touchdowns to start the third quarter, the third coming on special teams with a 66-yard punt return for a score by Dylan Laurent.
The Sailors also couldn’t get it going offensively. It was the first time Newport Harbor was shut out in a game in three years. The last time was a 35-0 loss to Edison on Oct. 4, 2012.
*
The blowout loss overshadowed another solid rushing night for Newport junior tailback Cole Kinder, who had his second straight 100-yard rushing game and third overall this season. Kinder had 27 carries for 111 yards. But the Los Alamitos defense did a good job limiting the big play, as only one of those carries went for more than nine yards.
Kinder, who rushed for 872 yards in nine games last season, has a chance to pass the 1,000-yard mark for the first time next week against Marina at Westminster High. He now has 176 carries for 933 yards and six touchdowns.
*
Laurent, who transferred from Estancia to Los Alamitos over the summer, had his best game of the season for the Griffins. He finished with three catches for 70 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown reception. He also had the 66-yard punt return for the touchdown, as well as diving to intercept a pass on defense.
It was the second straight game that Laurent, last year’s Orange Coast League MVP, had a touchdown catch for Los Alamitos.
--- Matt Szabo
*
Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa High sophomore quarterback Ben Swanson completed his first three passes and was four for six on the Mustangs’ game-opening touchdown drive in a 27-6 Orange Coast League loss to Godinez on Friday at Jim Scott Stadium.
Swanson’s final completion, a 10-yard scoring pass to Christian Villaverde, capped the 11-play, 74-yard procession that gave the Mustangs their only lead. It came two plays after he suffered a broken collarbone on a roughing-the-passer penalty. Swanson had his right non-throwing arm in a sling on the sideline the rest of the game, during which Mesa completed just three of 14 pass attempts with one interception.
*
Swanson was one of three players critical to Costa Mesa’s success who were injured Friday. Senior linebacker Mason Mafaala was sidelined by a recurring shoulder injury that Coach Glen Fisher said may or may not affect his availability for this week.
And senior cornerback-receiver Josh Snipes left the field in an ambulance after sustaining a neck injury late in the contest. Fisher said he was released from the hospital Friday night and was doing fine Saturday, but his status for next week is also in question.
*
Costa Mesa was hampered by eight fumbles on shotgun snaps against Godinez, one of which the Grizzlies recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. The snap is an element that was also costly the previous week in a 23-0 loss to Estancia.
Fisher said the snaps against Godinez were sometimes low, but blamed the problem on two backup quarterbacks not looking the ball in and “trying to make a play, before they caught the ball.”
Fisher said there will be no move away from the shotgun.
“That’s our offense,” Fisher said.