Eagles seeking shelter

Barry Faulkner

The storm that is the Estancia High football team’s current

five-game losing streak has hardly been a torrential downpour.

Instead, it has more resembled sporadic trickling through a leaky

roof, with Coach Jay Noonan and his staff hustling to determine where

to set the buckets.

“We’ve got to find a way to work through the kinks, and we’re

always trying to figure out where the next kink is going to pop up,”

Noonan said after more turnovers, costly penalties and other assorted

breakdowns helped Santa Ana claim a 38-0 Golden West League victory

over the Eagles Friday at the Santa Ana Bowl.

The Saints’ supremacy on the scoreboard belied some of the

statistics, including a huge advantage in time of possession for the

Eagles (30:37 to 17:23) and a scant Santa Ana edge in total offense

(226-198). Even a 3-1 turnover deficit by the Eagles, which pushes

their season turnover ratio to a dismal minus-14, does not fully

explain the 38-point loss, to which 11 Estancia penalties for 87

yards contributed greatly.

But Noonan said his team did not take advantage of numerous

opportunities presented it by the Saints.

“We did not master the obvious,” Noonan said. “(The Saints,

winners of five in a row) gave us everything we wanted (with their

defensive alignment) and it was right in front of us. But we didn’t

do a good job of reading it and countering with the things we had

planned. We just didn’t master the situation. As coaches, we just

have to continue to put our kids in position to make plays”

A penalty negated Bobby Estrada’s apparent 77-yard interception

return for a touchdown and an errant punt snap set Santa Ana up for a

13-yard touchdown “drive.”

Sophomore punter Geo Macias helped avert disaster on another

wayward punt snap by retrieving the ball, averted the defense and

punted the ball with his left foot. The play impressed Noonan all the

more, because Macias, also a soccer goalie, is right-footed.

“He made an incredible play kicking the ball on the run with his

left foot,” Noonan said.

Despite the errors, Noonan, remains optimistic and focused on the

future.

“Sooner or later, we’re going to put together some sort of

breakout game,” said Noonan, who sees no better time for such a

performance than Friday’s Battle for the Bell against crosstown and

Golden West League rival Costa Mesa.

“It doesn’t hurt, in terms of motivation, that we’re playing Costa

Mesa this week,” Noonan said of the 36th Battle for the Bell,

scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Newport Harbor High.

“I don’t care if it’s bulletin board material or not, I think

we’re a better team (than Mesa). If we play at our best and they play

at their best, we win the game.”

Strong statements coming from the leader of a program that has

lost 15 of its last 16, particularly since the Mustangs, ranked No. 9

in CIF Southern Section Division VII, improved to 4-2 Friday with a

crucial 27-21 league win over Orange. It was Mesa’s third straight

victory.

“I’m supposed to be among a handful of people who believes

(Estancia will win),” Noonan said. “It would be ridiculous for me to

assume we could not beat this (Mesa) team. With due respect to Mesa,

it’s not De La Salle or Mater Dei.”