Pacifica rates favorite’s role against the Eagles

Barry Faulkner

Estancia High football coach Jay Noonan has said on several

occasions during his team’s 1-7 campaign that if it weren’t for bad

luck, his Eagles would have none at all.

The luck of the draw appears also to have abandoned Estancia,

which drew Pacifica in the Golden West League’s “bye-week” agreement

with the Garden Grove League, also comprised of seven teams.

The Eagles enter tonight’s nonleague matchup, 7 o’clock at Bolsa

Grande High, as heavy underdogs against the Mariners (6-2), who

appear bound for their ninth straight trip the CIF Southern Section

playoffs.

Pacifica Coach Bill Craven earned his 200th win at the school last

week, while Estancia has 158 wins in its 38 varsity seasons. The

Eagles have won just 49 games the last 13 seasons, while Pacifica has

taken only the last seven seasons to win 50.

“It’s a good football team, which I think could be as good as

Katella,” said Noonan, whose Eagles were trounced, 34-0, by Katella

in Week 3. It was the first of four shutouts sustained by Estancia

over a six-game span and Estancia has now been blanked in three

straight games.

The three-game scoreless streak ties a program record and has

dropped the Eagles to the bottom of the Orange County scoring list,

tied with Tesoro with 47 points.

“We’re not going to line up and go toe to toe with them,” Noonan

said of the Mariners, who opened their season with a 35-0 win over a

Westminster team that subsequently bested Estancia, 41-7, in Week 4.

“We’ll have a few changes, we’ll try to be creative, and we’ll have

to limit our mistakes.”

Mistakes, specifically turnovers, have been the Eagles’ biggest

shortcoming this fall. They are minus-16 in turnover ratio.

Pacifica, ranked No. 8 in CIF Division IX, is known for its sound

fundamentals and execution, ideals Noonan said his team can gain

inspiration from.

“Bill Craven is one of the deans of Orange County high school

football and Pacifica has an outstanding program,” Noonan said. “This

game will give our kids an opportunity to see how a good program

plays. You know what Pacifica is going to do, but it has had pretty

good success lining up and doing it. Our challenge is going to be to

try and stop them.”

Specifically, the Eagles must contend with senior running back

David Heller, who has rushed for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns this

fall.

Justin Turner, a senior quarterback, has thrown for 1,153 yards

and five TDs, completing 80 of 129 with four interceptions.

Steve Heller (20 catches for 270 yards and two TDs) and Tim

Brannen (15 catches for 371 yards and two TDs) are the Mariners’

leading receivers.

Estancia is led offensively by junior quarterback Brad Young, who

has completed 63 of 127 passes for 675 yards and two TDs, with five

interceptions.

Noonan said senior Lewis Bradshaw may also play some quarterback

this week. Bradshaw, is among the Eagles’ receiving leaders with 12

catches for 222 yards.

Seniors Javy Ramirez (16 catches for 211 yards), Louis Valdes Jr.

(13 for 146) and Jermaine Young (12 for 150) are additional passing

targets.

It’s the first game in 33 years between the two schools, which met

five straight years beginning with Estancia’s inaugural 1965 season.

Estancia leads the series 3-1-1.