Eagles fall in controversial finish

Roger Carlson

NEWPORT BEACH - Championships are sometimes made from the remnants

of frustration and Estancia High’s Eagles appear to have all they need as

they prepare for their Pacific Coast League slate.

Oh, there’s still the matter of dealing with Orange Friday night at El

Modena High in the season’s final nonleague tuneup, but the seeds of

victory have clearly been planted.

“We’re taking the fury of this football game into the next six weeks,”

said a seething Eagles Coach Dave Perkins in the aftermath of Saturday

night’s 35-28 loss to Santa Ana Valley at Newport Harbor, leaving both

teams 2-2 on the nonleague trail.

Clearly the Eagles had their chances, but at the top of the list of

Perkins’ agonies were two fumbles, both recovered in the Santa Ana Valley

end zone by Falcons, both within a mass of swarming defenders, that stung

a distraught Perkins.

The third-year Estancia coach raced to confront the officials at

game’s end.

“(Game referee) Al Hackney told me ‘Our crew did a lousy job. We took

the game away from your kids,’ ” said the angry Perkins.

Hackney’s verification failed to soothe, rather inflaming the

competitive fire of the Eagles’ coach, who felt the first of two

goal-line fumbles by scrambling quarterback Kenny Valbuena was caused

when he hit the turf in the end zone, and that the second, airborne with

2:31 left was well across the plane of the goal line.

“It’s the worst officiating I’ve seen in 25 years of coaching,” said

Perkins. “But we’re going to be stronger because of this. Our kids played

hard through adversity and showed a lot of character.”

Perkins had watched his team, aside from multiple self-inflicted

wounds, strike with promising quickness and strength.

Wingback Andy Romo ran for 217 yards on 21 carries, including bursts

of 57 and 28 yards, with touchdown runs of 22 and 3 yards, as well as an

83-yard second-half kickoff return for another TD to extend the Eagles’

lead to 28-12.

Valbuena had struck for 139 yards on 6 of 13 attempts, including a

67-yard TD pass to David Stoddard and a 46-yard gainer to Jeremy Valdes.

He also scrambled like a Fran Tarkenton, but failed to finish as a Dan

Fouts would with a ball-wrapped slide, and all things considered, it was

a fatal flaw.

The Eagles’ bull-like pounding of Fahad Jahid was evident, as well (8

yards per carry offensively and two quarterbacks sacks from his

linebacking spot), and numerous big moments by other Eagles.

Santa Ana Valley had its own version of explosion, however, with the

antics of 230-pound sophomore Junior Iafeta, a 5-foot-9 Sherman tank who

rumbled his way to 191 yards on 22 carries, including a 67-yard burst and

a 3-yard TD run.

Quarterback James Burgueno connected on 9 of 21 for 230 yards with TD

passes covering 15 and 11 yards, as well as nudging in the game-winning

touchdown from a yard out with 6:25 left.

That set it up for the final Estancia flurry.

Valbuena, whose first controversial fumble in the Valley end zone came

with 4:34 left in the third quarter as Estancia was trying to extend a

28-20 lead, guided the Eagles on their final drive, the key pickup a

bruising 26-yard burst up the middle by Jahid to the Valley 10-yard line.

On third-and-15, Valbuena went back to pass, then opted to run over

his left side, threading the needle and crashing into the end zone, only

to see the ball pop out as he went airborne at the goal line.

Perkins complained bitterly at the moment on the field at length and

appeared to deserve a flag, but the officials let it go with perhaps a

tacit display of understanding.

Estancia had no timeouts left and Valley ran out the final 2:31 to

claim victory.

Aside from the officiating, the Eagles were at times their own worst

enemy.

They were flagged a dozen times for 84 yards, two of the 5-yard

variety costing them gains of 26 and 20 yards.

The Eagles had 11 possessions, lost four of five fumbles and had a

16-point lead in the second half, only to see it all turn

around.Explosiveness?

Estancia trailed, 12-6, then scored three touchdowns in a span of 83

seconds.

Romo’s 3-yard TD run capped a 96-yard march on the only third-down of

an eight-play drive and a subsequent Romo-run for the two-pointer put the

Eagles up, 14-12, with 1:12 left in the half.

Ivan Garcia’s third-down pressure on the quarterback forced a Valley

punt and Estancia had the ball again with 0:27 left on its 33.

Valbuena found Stoddard over the middle at midfield on the first play,

and the big tight end juked his way into the open and stretched it to a

67-yard touchdown play with 0;12 left in the half.

Then Romo took over with his 83-yard third-quarter kickoff return,

splitting would-be tacklers in his wake and escaping Lance Johnson’s bid

for a touchdown-saving tackle at the 10.

The clock showed just one second had ticked off in the third quarter,

and the Falcons must have felt it correct, considering the swiftness of

Estancia’s rapid fire.

Game officials finally saw the error and moved it ahead 10 seconds to

account for the play.

A gracious Santa Ana Valley Coach Eddie Steward, a one-time prep

sensation for Santa Ana High in the ‘60s, with the victory snapping a

two-game streak for his boys, smiled and shook his head slowly, and then

probably summed the whole thing up in four words:

“That’s high school football.”