Estancia’s Noah Aires stars in win over rival Costa Mesa
A CIF Southern Section playoff berth was not likely in the cards for either Costa Mesa or Estancia heading into their Week 10 matchup, but the crosstown rivalry delivered a script worthy of a postseason football game.
Known for his explosive plays in the running game, Estancia senior Noah Aires made two big plays on defense that turned the tide on Friday in the Battle for the Bell.
Consecutive sacks by Aires led to a fourth-quarter safety for Estancia, which went on to defeat Costa Mesa 38-17 on Friday in the season finale at Jim Scott Stadium.
In a game that had seen limited but sustained possessions, Estancia coach Mike Bargas decided to give up the football with his team leading 21-17 with 8:15 remaining. The Eagles were facing a fourth-and-1 at the Mustangs’ 37-yard line when they punted the ball away.
The ball was downed at the Costa Mesa 15. Then Aires rushed from the blind side, sacking Costa Mesa quarterback Garrett Richards on the first play of the drive. Two plays later, Aires did it again, this time making the tackle in the end zone.
“I always feel like I can get at least a yard on a play,” Aires said when asked about the Eagles’ decision to punt on the fourth-and-1 play. “I’m never going to argue with Coach [Bargas]. He knows what’s best. He’s been doing this longer than me.
“It’s the exact same mentality, ‘So you’re not going to give me the ball? I’m going to take it back and get it in our hands,’ and that’s exactly what I did.”
Aires did get the ball the next time the Eagles ran an offensive play, and he took the handoff 34 yards for a score.
“I’ve made mistakes like that before where we give them the short side of the field and then we’re up a creek without a paddle,” Bargas said of his conservative play call. “I had a lot of confidence in our defense that they were going to keep them pinned back right there.
“Otherwise, I’d be kicking myself for being selfish and stupid and giving them the short side of the field if we didn’t convert. The players told me they wanted to go for it, but I had confidence in our defense, and they played wonderfully.”
Desperate for an answer, Costa Mesa (3-7, 1-5 in the Orange Coast League) converted a fourth-and-16 with a pass over the middle from Richards to Marley Boynton to get the Mustangs to the Estancia 22, but on the edge of the red zone, Richards’ next attempt was intercepted by Oscar Vazquez.
Aires made one more trip to the end zone to cap his prep football career, ending the night with 207 total yards (176 rushing) and two touchdowns.
“I’m not going to be mad about this if it’s my last game here,” Aires said. “Come out with a win, [against] a crosstown rival at that, best thing you can do if it’s your last game as a senior.”
Neither Estancia (4-6, 2-4) nor Costa Mesa qualified for the playoffs. The section released its football pairings on Sunday.
Riley Witte threw for 139 yards and a touchdown, a key 5-yard connection with Vazquez with seven seconds to go before halftime. Estancia went up 21-10 heading into the break.
Estancia also got one rushing touchdown from both Alexis Galindo and Witte.
Richards threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, adding a rushing score on a quarterback sneak. The passing touchdown went to Diego Ramirez on a swing pass to the left sideline, and Ramirez was able to step out of a tackle before racing to the goal line.
Riley Weinstein had four catches for 66 yards to lead the Mustangs’ receiving corps, while Ramirez paced his team on the ground with 54 rushing yards.
First-year Costa Mesa coach Gary Gonzalez said his team was shorthanded on the evening, dressing just 29 players for the game.
“We kept everybody in front of us, and I thought defensively we held our own, … really for the first three and a half quarters,” Gonzalez said. “I felt like we were getting tired toward the end of the fourth quarter.
“… Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we’re going to continue to get better. Super proud of our guys. My message at the end of the game was, ‘Hey, you guys fought hard. You guys fought well, and you made our school community really proud.’”
Orange Coast League
Estancia 38, Costa Mesa 17
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Costa Mesa 0 – 10 – 7 – 0 — 17
Estancia 7 – 14 – 0 – 17 — 38
FIRST QUARTER
E — Galindo 3 run (Avalos kick), 5:43.
SECOND QUARTER
CM — Smithlin 27 FG, 10:30.
E — Witte 1 run (Avalos kick), 6:46.
CM — Ramirez 33 pass from Richards (Smithlin kick), 2:53.
E — Vazquez 5 pass from Witte (Avalos kick), 0:07.
THIRD QUARTER
CM — Richards 2 run (Smithlin kick), 4:15.
FOURTH QUARTER
E — Safety (Aires sack), 7:17.
E — Aires 34 run (Aires run), 7:02.
E — Aires 2 run (Avalos kick), 1:57.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CM — Ramirez, 11-54; Richards, 6-21, 1 TD.
E — Aires, 20-176, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CM — Richards, 15-27-1, 218, 1 TD.
E — Witte, 15-21-0, 139, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CM — Weinstein, 4-66; Boynton, 3-52; Rivera, 3-44.
E — Zarate-Groth, 4-38; Aires, 4-31; T. Sanchez, 2-29.
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