Football: EAGLES SOAR!!

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - Estancia High Coach Dave Perkins said after the

game that the assistant coaches deserve much of the credit and that he

only “...pays for the uniforms and get the kids on the bus.”

Thank goodness for the Eagles he made sure Marshall Hendricks was on

board.

The senior transfer from Edison High rushed for 218 yards on 14

carries, scored four touchdowns and had two interceptions for the Eagles

in their 35-0 blowout of Magnolia High at Newport Harbor Friday night.

Hendricks even scored a two point conversion for the Eagles, finishing

the night with 26 points of the team’s 35 points.

“I would say he had a pretty good night,” Perkins said with a laugh.

“I’m not sure if he set any school records with his performance, but I’m

sure it’s pretty close.

“What a great way to start the season,” Perkins continued. “This what

a summer of hard work and belief can do for a team.”

Hard work, belief and 293 yards of all-purpose yards for Hendricks

helps, too.

Hendricks and the Eagles got the fireworks going early, scoring on the

third play from scrimmage on a 52-yard run on a weakside sweep.

The Eagles passing, though not used very often, was an effective

change of pace for the Sentinel defense.

Quarterbacks Jeremy Valdes and Kenny Valbuena were a combined 6-14

with 102 yards on the night, but more importantly, no interceptions.

In fact, Estancia played turnover-free football the entire evening,

while dominating the time of possession.

After a Sentinels fumble, Hendricks was back at it again, this time,

scoring from 19 yards out on the same play.

“We’ve been excited to get going for a while now,” Hendricks said. “We

knew we weren’t going to be picked very high after how we played last

year, but this is a new year, new guys, new system and new family.”

Hendricks was also a factor on defense, intercepting two Magnolia

passes, running the second one back 75 yards for his third score of the

night.

Magnolia’s four turnovers on the night shut down a number of scoring

opportunities and gave all the momentum to the Eagles.

The Estancia star kept it up in the third quarter with a 43-yard

scoring run.

Hendricks’ play was limited to hardly anything on offense in the

fourth quarter, or his numbers would be even more impressive.

Eagle fullback Fahad Jahid, who help spring Hendricks on a few of his

big runs, was rewarded with a two-yard touchdown run to close out the

scoring. He finished the game with 23 yards on seven carries.

The Eagles did a good job on both sides of the ball, not allowing

Magnolia’s running game to get on track and keeping the Sentinels away

from the big plays.

“Magnolia was huge,” Perkins said. “I was worried one of those guys

was going to fall on one of our guys and squish us. That’s got to be one

of the biggest teams we’ll face all season.”

Richard Flickinger had 61 yards on 15 carries, while backup

quarterback Jacob Davis went 7-20 for 104 yards for Magnolia.

A far more imposing force awaits the Eagles next week as they go on

the road to face Westminster Friday at 7 p.m.

“That will be a huge test for us,” Perkins said. “They’re a

higher-division club and we’ll do the best we can against them.”

Gone, but not forgotten, the Eagles players and coaches remembered

their late coach Paul Troxel in many forms.

“We got his name ‘Trox’ on the coaches shirts, we say ‘Trox’ in each

team huddle and the players say ‘Trox’ when they look at each other,”

Perkins said. “He was Mr. Eagle. We’re dedicating the season to him and

he helps us play with a lot of heart.”

Hendricks agrees.

“I’m sure he was looking down at us tonight,” he said. “And I’m sure

he’s very happy.”