Estancia comes up short, 38-0

Steve Virgen

For one quarter, the Estancia High football team had the look of

the New England Patriots, who upset the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. But

this is high school football, where mistakes are bound to happen,

especially from a team that Eagles Coach Jay Noonan describes as,

“young,” and not the type of squad that has, “the talent to make up

for mistakes.”

The Eagles held Santa Ana scoreless in the first quarter, but the

Saints took advantage of Estancia errors, found its offense and

grabbed a 38-0 Golden West League victory at the Santa Ana Bowl

Friday night.

“It’s disappointing because we had them on the ropes in that first

half,” Noonan said. “Our long snapping was horrible. That’s a problem

we never had in the past. But for some reason, it showed up (Friday

night).”

The Estancia defense sent Santa Ana’s high-powered offense

three-and-out on the Saints’ first two possessions. However, Estancia

had a bad long snap on punt formation that gave Santa Ana the ball on

the Eagles’ 13-yard line. Three plays later, the Saints’ Jason

Olivares scored from 1 yard out with 11:21 left in the second

quarter.

The Eagles (1-5, 0-3 in league) nearly tied it up. About three

minutes after Olivares’ touchdown, Santa Ana quarterback Omar

Carrasco launched a deep pass that was intercepted by Estancia senior

Bobby Estrada, who ran it back, displaying some smooth moves, for

what appeared to be a 77-yard touchdown. However, there was clipping

on the play, bringing the ball back to the Estancia 40.

Estancia then used its strong running game to drive down to the

Santa Ana 25, but the Eagles gave the ball up on downs.

The Saints (5-1, 2-0), who entered the game having scored the

second most points in Orange County, later scored when Carrasco found

Rene Candelas for a 60-yard TD. Candelas, the Saints’ leading

receiver, caught the ball on a quick slant at midfield, broke a

tackle and went the rest of the way untouched. Candelas, who nailed a

32-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the first half, connected

on all five point-after kicks.

“No disrespect to Santa Ana because they’re a great team, but it

really doesn’t matter who we play, we just can’t make mistakes,”

Noonan said. “Our defense played well. We let one or two things go

and they just jumped on us.”

The Saints maintained their momentum in the second half and scored

two touchdowns in the third quarter, the latter because of field

position.

Estancia senior Lewis Bradshaw made a touchdown-saving tackle when

Santa Ana’s Eric Sanchez returned a punt 28 yards to the Estancia 20.

Then, four plays later, Candelas took a direct snap and ran it in for

a TD from 7 yards out.

Santa Ana scored again after an Estancia fumble, that was caused

by a lateral that went wrong. Santa Ana’s John Raya picked up the

errant pass that dribbled near the Saints’ sideline and ran it to the

Estancia 15. On the ensuing play, backup quarterback Hector Franco

went up the gut for the TD.

The Eagles will face crosstown rival Costa Mesa Friday at 7 p.m.

at Newport Harbor High.

“The kids will be excited for that game,” Noonan said. “But, right

now we have to focus on what we’re doing, and correct it.”