Eagles’ timing off

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Timing was everything for the Estancia High football

team in the Eagles’ 21-20 nonleague loss to Santa Ana Valley Thursday

night at Orange Coast College.

When it came time to go for a two-point conversion and the lead with 6:51

left in the game, the Eagles tried to bamboozle the Falcons from their

shotgun swinging gate formation.

But Valley managed to cover every possibility and the resulting pass

attempt fell incomplete.

When the Eagles had a chance to seize momentum late in the first half, a

bobbled snap on fourth-and-goal at the Valley 3-yard line sent them to

intermission with only a rallying cry.

Just when it appeared The Eagles (3-2) had finally courted momentum --

as Marshall Hendricks returned his Orange County-leading fifth

interception 25 yards for a TD, then tied the score at 14-14 with an

8-yard conversion run three plays after halftime -- Valley senior Aaron

Barragan sprinted 95 yards to paydirt with the ensuing kickoff.

Then, when the Eagles’ defense held and gave the hosts possession at

their own 22 with 4:18 remaining, what Hendricks later described as a

cramp in his hamstring forced him to the sideline for the fateful

possession. Hendricks’ replacement dropped a pitchout on the third snap.

The Falcons (4-1) recovered and ran out the final 3:14.

Despite the setback, pumped-up Estancia Coach Dave Perkins told his

players he was proud of their second-half effort and hoped they could use

their performance as a springboard into the Pacific Coast League opener

against Costa Mesa Oct. 15.

“That was a good (Valley) team we battled tonight,” Perkins said. “If we

played like this last week (a stunning 21-12 loss to previously winless

Anaheim), we’d be 4-1 right now. I told our kids we had a great

preseason.”

The Eagles appeared ready to head into league with a full head of steam

when Hendricks bolted 71 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play.

Utilizing the same two-point conversion formation that failed to produce

in the fourth quarter, however, Valley pressured the Eagles into an

incompletion.

Santa Ana Valley answered with a six-play, 68-yard TD drive which was

keyed by a 35-yard Barragan run and capped by Eliu Fatu’s 20-yard scoring

scamper up the middle. The first of Hugo Ibarra’s three conversion kicks

gave the Falcons a 7-6 edge.

Estancia held after the first of its three lost fumbles (two more than

they had coughed up in four previous games), then marched into the Valley

red zone.

Two costly penalties (they had 10 for 66 on the night) forced the Eagles

to settle for a 36-yard field-goal try, which sailed wide left midway

through the second quarter.

Hendricks, who finished with 227 rushing yards on 30 carries, broke 46

yards to create first-and-goal at the 4 with 38 seconds left in the first

half.

But three runs gained nothing and, having used all its timeouts, Estancia

was forced to hurry the fourth-down snap, resulting in the bobble.

Estancia earned the statistical edge, with 16 first downs and 324 rushing

yards, to the Falcons’ seven and 191.

Mike Baron, a Valley assistant coach, went out of his way to tell Perkins

and Estancia senior lineman Kyle Westman “Your line kicked our (butts)

all night,” in the postgame handshakes.

But the tough-luck Eagles had to settle for such solace.