Football: Emotional Eagles come up short, 27-24

Richard Dunn

SANTA ANA - The shock of former Estancia High football player Matt

Colby dying Saturday brought together three teams on the field at once to

celebrate a life, pray as one and give an emotional salute to their

fallen gridiron fighter.

Colby’s name grazed banners on the visitors’ side at the Santa Ana

Bowl, where Estancia’s Eagles, for whom Colby played before transferring

to Costa Mesa his senior year, fell short in their late rally, before

losing to Santa Ana Valley, 27-24, in a suspenseful nonleague encounter

Saturday night.

But taking center stage afterward on the field, surrounded by parents

and fans, were members of the Costa Mesa football team, along with

Estancia and Santa Ana Valley players, all joining as one with not a

single dry eye in the house.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Estancia fan and alumnus

Mike Johnston said of the impromptu three-team gathering near the south

end zone.

“The Mesa players were going to have pizza at the school, but they

wanted to come here. They voted to come to the Estancia game.”

Colby, a defensive end who played three years in the Estancia program

before following Coach Dave Perkins to Mesa this year, was taken off a

respirator Saturday at UCI Medical Center, where he had been taken after

losing consciousness during the first quarter of Friday’s game against

Ocean View at Westminster High.

“The kids dedicated the game to Matt Colby,” Estancia Coach Jay Noonan

said. “It was great to play well, but it’s been a tough week. The kids

went through a lot adversity. It’s been a real emotionally draining day,

the last 24 hours.”

Prior to the tragic news of Colby, the Eagles (0-3) were struggling

among themselves in practice.

“It’s been a very emotional week,” said Estancia wide receiver Nate

Harriman, who caught three passes for 121 yards. “Our team got in a fight

a couple of days ago. We were all going down, then we made up, and we’re

doing so well now. I think we’re going to have a successful season now.

We almost won this one.”

The Eagles indeed came close, but extra points made the difference in

the end.

“The kids played hard, but only if we could’ve gotten some extra

points,” Noonan said.

Santa Ana Valley, led by junior running back Cliff Mason’s 254 rushing

yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries, appeared to put the game out of

reach with 3:37 left in the third quarter, 27-12.

But Estancia rallied, pulling to within three points with 7:09 to play

in the contest, and getting another offensive opportunity with 3:39

remaining.

The Eagles’ final drive stalled, however, and the Falcons ran out the

clock.

Estancia’s Lewis Bradshaw, a 6-foot-3 junior left-hander at

quarterback, connected with Harriman on a 40-yard pass play to set up an

Eagle touchdown late in the third quarter. Bradshaw capped the drive with

a 5-yard scoring run.

In the fourth quarter, Bradshaw and Harriman moved the chains again,

along with the help of Valley penalties, to cross paydirt with 7:09 on

the clock. Bradshaw again finished the series with a 1-yard scoring

burst, cutting Valley’s lead to 27-24.

After Landon Pullizi recovered a Santa Ana Valley fumble, the Eagles

took possession on their own 36 with 3:39 to play. On the first play,

Harriman hauled in a 24-yard pass. But Estancia was stopped four plays

later.