Football: Estancia wins, but it wasn’t pretty

Tony Altobelli

ANAHEIM - According to the often-colorful Estancia High football

Coach Dave Perkins, the amount of positive film in Thursday’s 25-8

season-opening win over host Magnolia might cover the length of Friday’s

school lunch period.

“It was ugly, ugly, ugly,” he said. “If you looked in the dictionary

and you saw the word ‘ugly’ in there, our team picture would be right

below it.”

What left the sour taste in Perkins’ mouth was the missed

opportunities following turnovers, missed scoring chances in the red zone

and the 10 penalties for 60 yards.

“Needless to say, we still have a ton of work to do,” Perkins said.

“Aliso Viejo is going to be much tougher than what we faced tonight and

we have to get better if we have any chance.”

Despite the mistakes, there were some very bright spots to build on.

Senior quarterback Kenny Valbuena was 6 for 11 for 120 yards and two

touchdowns. Both TD passes found senior wide receiver Andy Romo, who

finished with four catches for 58 yards.

“Kenny looked sharp back there,” Perkins said. “He showed good

composure and he didn’t have happy feet back there. Andy is an

outstanding athlete and we’re expecting big things from him this year.

We’re going to try to get him the ball every chance we get.”

Senior fullback Fahad Jahid led Estancia’s ground attack with 107

yards on 13 carries, including a 25-yard touchdown run late in the first

half.

Both teams were held scoreless in the first quarter-and-a-half,

despite the Eagles having the ball on the Sentinels’ side of the field

three different times.

“I’m limping from shooting myself in the foot so many times,” Perkins

joked.

Finally, with 2:36 remaining in the second quarter, Valbuena found

Romo with a 10-yard fade pass in the corner of the end zone. The

two-point try failed and the Eagles led, 6-0.

Following a Sentinels’ punt, Estancia marched 59 yards on five plays,

with Jahid’s 25-yard scamper finding paydirt.

The Eagles shut out Magnolia, 35-0, in the opener last year and was

just as stingy this year, despite the loss of nose guard Jesse Cardenas

and free safety Freddy Rodriguez, each scratched with ankle injuries.

“Our defense stepped up and did a great job,” Perkins said. “We were a

little short-handed, but the guys hung in there and played hard.”

In the third quarter, Romo pulled in a 27-yard pass from Valbuena,

giving the Eagles a 19-0 lead. Valbuena had also hooked up with David

Stoddard on a key third-down completion, good for 31 yards that kept the

drive alive.

Jahid also came up big defensively. With a Magnolia running back Tyler

Johnson struggling to hold on to a handoff, the big inside linebacker

knocked Johnson hard into the turf, allowing David Rodriguez to recover

the fumble.

Three plays later, Rodriguez found the end zone on a 2-yard run,

closing out the Eagles’ scoring.

Magnolia averted a second-straight shutout to the Eagles with a

touchdown and two-point conversion with 14 seconds remaining.

“Magnolia hung tough tonight,” Perkins said. “They kept battling and

didn’t quit. You’ve got to give him credit for that.”

The Eagles will play again Friday at 7 p.m. against Aliso Niguel at

Newport Harbor High.