Daily Pilot Player of the Week, Grant Estabrook: The straight story

Barry Faulkner

Grant Estabrook has a football credibility problem.

Despite his 1,147 career rushing yards and 10 career varsity touchdowns

in three seasons as a Corona del Mar High starter, the 6-foot-2,

220-pounder is met with disbelief from those who inquire about his

position.

“People ask me all the time: ‘What do you play? Linebacker?,’ ”

Estabrook, in his first season at tailback after starting at fullback and

defensive end the previous two falls, said. “They don’t believe me when I

tell them I play tailback. Girls, especially, don’t get it. They say

‘You’re fast? Come on now.’ ”

With a respectable 4.6 clocking in the 40-yard dash, Estabrook is

sufficiently swift to tote the ball behind an offensive line comprised of

only one member larger in stature than he.

But, even his coaches concede, Estabrook’s style is unusually

straightforward, compared to the serpentine slashes in vogue with the

more free-flowing members of hog-the-handoff fraternity.

Before the season began, CdM Coach Dick Freeman was candid about his

featured ballcarrier’s supposed limitations.

“I told him the first time he tries to make a move, I’m taking him out,”

Freeman said before fall practice began. “He needs to run north and

south.”

Eager to please, Estabrook, whose 260-pound preseason power clean was

bested only by 6-4, 255-pound teammate Sean Fenton, set about emulating

this electric-football efficiency. He continually plowed off tackle in a

path plotted easily with a ruler.

And while he was tough and powerful enough to amass yards in this

fashion, the former Jr. All-American Football lineman has now evolved to

the point where he can make the occasional tackler miss.

“I see things out of the corner of my eye, now, where I used to run with

my head down,” Estabrook explained. “I have a lot better vision and feel

now. I can bounce a play outside, when I get through the hole and the

coaches expect that of me, now.”

Estabrook’s newfound elusiveness helped him compile a career-high 183

yards, including an explosive 69-yard touchdown, on 31 carries in

Friday’s 31-12 Pacific Coast League triumph over University.

The victory clinched at least a share of the PCL crown for the Sea Kings,

who opened the season 0-5. It also secured Daily Pilot Player of the Week

laurels for Estabrook.

Estabrook started eight games at fullback as a sophomore, but carried

just 14 times for 65 yards.

Last year, he pulled his weight at defensive end, collecting just seven

carries for 20 yards, until senior tailback Nate Lemmerman went down with

a badly sprained ankle in Week 9.

Estabrook, who had played tailback all season for the junior varsity,

made the most of his untimely opportunity in the regular-season finale

against El Toro. He rushed for 158 yards on 23 carries, including

touchdowns of 44 and 12 yards.

“I think that game convinced the coaches I could do it,” Estabrook

recalled. “I still like defense and I’m always there any time they need

to use me there. But I love running the ball. I want to be in the action,

making big plays, doing the most I can to help our team.”

Estabrook’s 889 yards on 219 carries (fifth-most in Orange County) this

season, have helped the Sea Kings survive the loss of starting

quarterback Matt Moore (season-ending collapsed lung in Week 3). His

workhorse presence o7 wasf7 the CdM offense for several weeks, until

junior Evan Burden became proficient enough to give credibility to the

play-action passing game.

With defenses forced to defend against an aerial strike, Estabrook has

flourished. In the Sea Kings’ three league games, in which they have

outscored foes, 69-19, Estabrook has averaged 30 carries, 152 yards and

one TD.

In addition to his on-field performance, Freeman believes Estabrook has

set a sterling example for his teammates.

“He has a great work ethic,” Freeman said. “He works out all the time, he

works hard in the weight room and he works hard at practice. Anything you

ask him to do, he’ll do.”

Estabrook, however, is unaffected by his increasingly high-profile

status.

“People talk about me being a workhorse, but I just look at it like I’m

doing my job. I’m the running back and it’s my job to run the ball.”

Estabrook, who plans to play college football, realizes his ballcarrying

days may be numbered. But until he transitions to either fullback,

linebacker or tight end at the next level, he’ll continue to be the Sea

Kings’ go-to guy.

Surely, now, even the girls get that.