Estancia football shut out by Loara in opener
For the past couple of seasons, the Estancia High football team had a pretty good idea about the key to its success.
Trevor Pacheco put together back-to-back seasons of at least 1,500 rushing yards in his final two years with Estancia.
The Eagles had no plans to abandon their “ground-and-pound” identity on offense, even if the backfield had changed in its entirety.
Junior quarterback Kyle Blinn and junior running back Beto Sotomayor drew the start for the Eagles, but by the end of the third quarter, both had been knocked out of the game.
A stout defensive effort by the Eagles went for naught, as Loara defeated Estancia 10-0 on Thursday night in a season opener at Western High.
Senior Roberto Aguilar accounted for all of the scoring. He made a 33-yard field goal with 2:38 left in the first quarter, and his 33-yard interception return for a touchdown with 31 seconds remaining put the game out of reach.
“It was team play the whole game,” Aguilar said. “I knew on defense, we were executing like we were supposed to. That let me get the opportunity to get a pick. I executed and ran it back to the house, and overall, it was a team win.”
Blinn was forced from the game after being sacked by Ahmed Hassanein with 2:42 to go in the third quarter. The Eagles were deep in their own territory on the play, and Blinn attempted to step up in the pocket before Hassanein broke free from the left end.
Estancia did not take many chances through the air after that, turning to Nathan Pacheco in the running game after Sotomayor was injured near the end of the first half.
“We don’t know what is going on,” Bargas said of Sotomayor’s injury. “It wasn’t anything inflamed, but he has injured that [left ankle] before, so we’ll just wait until we find out what the X-rays look like and stuff like that. Hopefully, nothing is broken.”
Regarding Blinn, Bargas said that he could be headed for concussion protocol. After the game, he said that both Blinn and Sotomayor should be viewed as doubtful for the team’s game against La Quinta (0-1) on Sept. 6 at Orange Coast College.
Pacheco finished with a team-high 48 rushing yards on 15 carries. He also recorded two tackles for a loss and half a sack.
Having had success all night defensively, Loara opted to go for it on fourth and goal at the Estancia five-yard line with two minutes remaining. Cameron Ruehling sacked Alex Islas to give the Eagles the ball back down 3-0 with 1:56 on the clock.
Even in a two-minute drill, the Eagles tried to run the ball initially. On third down, backup quarterback Kevin Henry had to throw. Aguilar drove on the ball from his free safety position for his second interception of the night.
“We were just kind of waiting,” Saxons coach Mitch Olson said. “The feeling was we were just going to make a play. I didn’t know we would get a pick six, but get a turnover, give us something.
“They did a pretty good job. That was huge. [Aguilar] is a really good player. He had a lot of picks last year, and he’s kind of our guy. That was good. He came through.”
Tasi Malo had a sack and a forced fumble, and Aldo Violante added an interception for the Loara defense.
Ruehling had 1½ sacks to lead the Eagles defense.
“The defense was flying around,” said Bargas, who also pointed to strong games from Mario Mondragon and Elijah Montoya. “We didn’t do them any favors on offense. We’re kind of [a] smash-mouth [football team]. Instead, we got smash-mouthed a little bit tonight.”
Nonleague
Loara 10, Estancia 0
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Estancia 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 — 0
Loara 3 – 0 – 0 – 7 — 10
FIRST QUARTER
L – Aguilar 33 FG, 2:38.
FOURTH QUARTER
L – Aguilar 33 interception return (Aguilar kick), :31.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
E – N. Pacheco, 15-48.
L – Lopez, 10-49.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
E – Blinn, 4-13-2, 22.
L – Islas, 12-25-0, 92.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
E – Burns, 2-12.
L – Arciga, 3-36.
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