Estancia Rallies, Beats Katella, 17-14

Estancia quarterback Matt Johner completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Peter Baniaga with 28 seconds left in the game to give the Eagles a 17-14 victory over Katella in front of about 750 in a nonleague game Thursday at Glover Stadium.

The play capped a 14-point fourth quarter for Estancia (3-0-1). Katella, which led, 14-0, at halftime, is 1-3.

Johner, a junior left-hander, was five for 10 on the winning drive for all 61 yards. He was nine for 21 in the game for 114 yards with two interceptions.

Johner also had a key fourth-down completion in the final drive. Estancia had fourth and five at Katella’s 24 with 54 seconds remaining when Johner flipped a short pass over the middle to running back Nelson Olshefski good for eight yards.

Katella’s defense had stopped an Estancia drive only minutes earlier when Eric Gardiner had intercepted a pass in the end zone with 5:14 left. But the Knights were unable to get a first down and had to punt, giving Estancia the ball back with 2:48 to play.

Katella’s first-half touchdowns were both the direct result of the running back Gary Hennessy. He turned a simple off-tackle dive into a 46-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 Katella lead with 10:07 left in the first quarter.

He finished with 154 yards rushing in 19 carries. He had 136 yards by halftime.

Hennessy also caught a nine-yard slant pass from quarterback Orlando Gonzalez with 11 seconds left in the first half for a touchdown.

A Katella fumble recoved by Estancia’s Cody Charley on the Katella 13 set up the Eagles’ first touchdown. Three plays later, Christian Gomez scored from eight yards out.