A Hunter’s quarry

Bryce Alderton

Evan Hunter’s first run from scrimmage Thursday foreshadowed

things to come.

The Costa Mesa High freshman runner took the handoff from Mustang

quarterback Scott Knox on a reverse end-around and raced through the

Estancia High Eagle line for a 49-yard touchdown, his first of three

rushing TD’s on a day Costa Mesa played a nearly flawless first half

and cruised to a 29-8 triumph over host Estancia for Mesa’s eighth

straight victory in the cross-town rivalry.

Hunter starred in the backfield for the Mustangs, 5-2, 3-0 in the

Golden West League, with TD scampers of 49, 14 and 25 yards, and

finished the game with 127 rushing yards alongside Mesa runner Brian

Molina, who gained 73 yards on seven carries and scored one TD, a

31-yard run to cap Mesa’s scoring with just over a minute remaining

in a dominating first half by the Mustangs.

Hunter and Molina combined for 200 rushing yards through the first

two quarters before Costa Mesa Coach John Carney inserted the

reserves in the second half.

The Mustangs scored touchdowns on all four of their first-half

possessions and the defense sacked the quarterback six times for

minus 48 yards. Mitchell Caldwell led the Mustangs with four sacks

and constantly pressured Eagle quarterbacks Nick Engelke and Kyle

Bannon, while Lang Azurin added one sack and stuffed out a pitch to

tackle an Eagle runner for a 5-yard loss early in the fourth quarter.

Second-year Estancia Coach Bob Bandaruk was amazed at Hunter’s

speed.

“I couldn’t believe (Hunter),” Bandaruk said. “I thought we had a

really fast group of players but he made some big plays and had some

long runs that got us.”

Hunter also led the Mustangs in receiving with one catch from Knox

for 25 yards.

Mesa’s aggressive defense also forced the Eagles to punt twice and

turn the ball over on downs once.

“(Caldwell) had a hell of a game,” Carney said. “The offense

started clicking and the kids came together as a team and moved the

ball downfield.”

Though the game for city bragging rights needed little incentive,

Bandaruk gave his Eagles another source of inspiration at halftime of

Thursday’s game.

“I told them they wouldn’t have to condition tomorrow if they held

(Costa Mesa) scoreless in the second half,” Bandaruk said with a

smile. “I’m very happy we held them scoreless in the second half, and

we got a score coming back.”

Carney, who coached in his eighth Mustang-Eagle clash, gave the

Eagles credit for going strong the entire four quarters.

“I was surprised with how well Estancia played,” Carney said.

“They brought nine guys to the line of scrimmage, showed a lot of

emotion and played with heart.”

Estancia tailback Kalami Teo came alive in the second half for the

Eagles, 1-6, 0-3 in league, gaining 107 of his 154 yards on the ground in the final two quarters and scoring a 4-yard TD after a

19-yard scamper two plays earlier. Teo also caught two passes for 10

yards.

The drive was set up by after Eziquel Villavazo recovered a fumble

and ran 35 yards to the Mesa 25. Villavazo also intercepted a pass in

the end zone on Mesa’s first drive of the third quarter with the

Mustangs driving at the Eagle 20.

Engelke completed two of six passes for 10 yards, while

counterpart Knox completed two of seven passes for 37 yards. Tyler

Legg finished with four carries for 23 yards, while Jonathan Valencia

carried twice for 11 yards and Miles Palmer ran twice for 10 yards

for the Mustangs. Ryan Bagwell caught one ball for 12 yards for Mesa.

For Estancia, Bannon ran five times for 5 yards and Travis Todd

carried twice for 11 yards.