Laguna Beach football routs Estancia
Overall team morale can be boosted in football, like many sports, when the backups have a chance to get into the game and make plays.
Laguna Beach High coach John Shanahan is a firm believer in that theory. He and the Breakers got to put it into practice Friday night as the Breakers hosted Estancia in a nonleague game.
“I read an article the other day that Clemson had 111 players play in their game the other day [a 52-10 win over Charlotte],” Shanahan said. “I told our coaches, if they can get 111 in, then we can get 40-something in a game if things go right. We had six or seven freshmen playing tonight, and four or five sophomores.”
Two of the sophomores got to shine in the fourth quarter. Cooper Buckhorn intercepted a pass and returned it 83 yards for a touchdown, the fifth-longest interception return in team history. On the final play of the game, Dylan Sprague also recorded an interception.
These were the finishing touches on a dominant performance by Laguna Beach.
Senior quarterback Andrew Johnson threw three touchdowns to three different receivers as the Breakers cruised to a 49-3 victory over the Eagles.
Johnson, who also had a one-yard rushing score, completed 16 of 26 passes for 319 yards and the three touchdowns. A week after throwing touchdown passes to five different receivers in a win over Bellflower, Johnson again found a different target for each score Friday night. He rolled right to hit senior receiver Noah Diver in the second quarter on a 77-yard score, and connected with senior Raul Villalobos on a 69-yard bomb in the third.
Johnson’s final touchdown pass went for 20 yards, over the middle to junior tight end Alex Morck. Johnson, who came out of the game for sophomore quarterback Will Bingham late in the third quarter with the Breakers on top 42-3, said he also appreciated seeing the underclassmen perform.
“There were a couple of guys here tonight who were seniors when I was a sophomore, and it made me remember exactly what it felt like to go in and have the support of the people above me,” Johnson said. “That’s something that drives me today. It’s so cool seeing kids exactly where I was two years ago, and just knowing that we can do exactly what was done for us. It really shows how much the team cares about each other.”
Laguna Beach (4-1), ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division 12, also got one-yard touchdown runs by junior Jackson Golden and senior Sam Tyrrell as part of its offensive explosion.
Estancia (1-4) has dropped three straight games, and has not scored more than seven points in any of them. The Eagles’ lone big play on offense Friday came late in the second quarter, when sophomore quarterback Cameron Knickerbocker hit junior receiver Tony Valdez over the middle on a 40-yard pass that took the Eagles to the Breakers’ 11.
But the drive stalled there, and Estancia had to settle for Yovani Avila’s 20-yard field goal that trimmed its halftime deficit to 21-3.
The Eagles open Orange Coast League play against Calvary Chapel on Oct. 3 at Orange Coast College. Coach Mike Bargas said that junior quarterback Kyle Blinn (concussion) could be cleared to return for that game, but there would be a competition for the starting position with Knickerbocker.
“We watch the film, and it’s like we’re one guy or two guys away from glory,” Bargas said. “We just make poor decisions and we panic a little bit. We have a young team, and this was our last chance to polish it up before next week. Calvary Chapel is a good football team, and they’re going to throw the heck out of the ball too … We’ve just got to figure it out.”
Trevor Tyler also had an interception for Laguna Beach, which hosts Marina (4-1) in a key nonleague game on Oct. 4. Last year, the Breakers edged the Vikings 21-18.
“I think they’re going to want that game bad, and that’s going to make it such a great game,” Johnson said. “Marina’s going to be grinding for that game, and I think as a team we’re going to come together a lot this week. It’s going to be two great football teams going against other.”
Nonleague
Laguna Beach 49, Estancia 3
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Estancia 0 – 3 – 0 – 0 — 3
Laguna Beach 7 – 14 –21 – 7 — 49
FIRST QUARTER
LB – Johnson 1 run (Kesler kick), 2:41.
SECOND QUARTER
LB – Golden 1 run (Kesler kick), 6:46.
LB – Diver 77 pass from Johnson (Kesler kick), 4:55.
E – Avila 20 FG, :02.
THIRD QUARTER
LB – Villalobos 69 pass from Johnson (Kesler kick), 10:24.
LB – Morck 20 pass from Johnson (Kesler kick), 8:27.
LB – Tyrrell 1 run (Kesler kick), 4:05.
FOURTH QUARTER
LB – Buckhorn 83 INT return (Kesler kick), 3:19.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
E – Sotomayor, 17-59.
LB – Golden, 11-43, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
E – Knickerbocker, 7-18-1, 97.
LB – Johnson, 16-26-0, 319, 3 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
E – T. Valdez, 2-65.
LB – Diver, 3-102, 1 TD.
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