Estancia fails to capitalize

Barry Faulkner

As Estancia High football coach Craig Fertig flies over the deserts

and canyons of the Southwest today, en route to Notre Dame to watch

his beloved USC Trojans Saturday, he is sure to be thinking about the

hills and valleys of the Eagles’ 24-16 Golden West League loss to

Saddleback Thursday night.

There were, in the end, more valleys to ponder, though Estancia’s

13th loss in its last 14 league contests was not without vistas from

which to view potential victory.

Estancia (3-3, 1-2 in league) led, 16-10, with 1:19 left in the third quarter, after surviving an initial 34-plus minutes that

featured countless chances for both teams to seize control.

Saddleback (3-3, 2-1) cashed in a first-quarter fumble recovery at

the Estancia 15-yard line with a 4-yard Ramiro Chavez touchdown run

to set the tone for the visitors at Newport Harbor High. Edwin Pena

booted the conversion and it was 7-0 with just more than six minutes

elapsed.

The Eagles countered with a 33-yard Geo Macias field goal, capping

a six-play march spurred by a 49-yard catch and rumble by 230-pound

senior tailback Mike Cahill.

Estancia junior Jason Johnston returned an interception 30 yards

to the Saddleback 44 to end the Roadrunners’ next possession, but the

Eagles wound up punting the ball away.

Senior linebacker Mike Softa poked the ball from a Saddleback ball

carrier and recovered to regain possession for the Eagles near

midfield, but Estancia fumbled it back two plays later.

A short punt on Saddleback’s ensuing possession set the Eagles up

at their own 38 and they used nearly the final 4:57, before fizzling

out at the Saddleback 11.

With Macias nursing a bruised right knee, making a field-goal try

tenuous, the Eagles extended the drive when quarterback Brad Young

connected with Cahill for a 19-yard gain to the 15 on fourth-and-14.

The play was the fifth down of the series, but the Eagles couldn’t

turn the extra down into points.

After three runs gained 4 yards, a fourth-down pass fell

incomplete, allowing Saddleback to escape and regroup with a 7-3

halftime lead.

“I wasn’t pleased with the way we played in the first half,” Jerry

Witte, in his 30th season as Saddleback coach, said. “But there were

critical times our defense made big stops ... stops we had to have.”

There was no stopping the Eagles early after intermission, as

Johnston returned the second-half kickoff 33 yards, then, three plays

later, serpentined 47 yards on a slip-screen pass to give the Eagles

a 10-7 lead.

Donovan Henrikson gathered in the Eagles’ subsequent pooch kickoff

at the Saddleback 21, but the hosts, passing on a chance at a 36-yard

field-goal try, were turned away on downs.

Saddleback responded with an eight-play march to set up a 35-yard

tying field goal by Pena, but the Eagles responded again with a

four-play TD drive made possible by a defensive holding penalty on an

Estancia punt.

The Eagles converted on the very next snap, when Young hit

Johnston on a post corner for a 54-yard score to give the Eagles a

16-10 lead. A bad snap on the conversion forced an incomplete

desperation pass and Saddleback took advantage by producing a

seven-play, 70-yard TD procession capped by a 31-yard screen pass to

tight end Hilario Camacho.

Screen passes, seemingly timed perfectly to exploit blitzes, hurt

the Eagles the entire second half and Saddleback capped the win on a

sideline streak, with Albert Garcia taking a Guillermo Garcia pass 38

yards for the final score with 6:20 left in the game.

Johnston led the Eagles with two TD catches for 101 yards, the

aforementioned interception and 164 all-purpose yards.

“I liked our effort, but we didn’t capitalize on our chances,”

said Fertig, who returns from South Bend Sunday to begin preparation

for Santa Ana on Oct. 24.

“It’s back to the drawing board,” he said.