Estancia willpower pays off

Rick Devereux

The Estancia High football team broke a six-game Golden West League

losing streak Friday with its come-from-behind, 21-14, victory over Ocean View. The win allowed the Eagles (3-3, 1-1 in league) to equal

their win total from last year, including a league-opening, 35-30,

come-from-behind victory over Ocean View.

Coach Craig Fertig said he believes the players’ attitudes have

changed from last season.

“The will to win has put this team over the hump,” Fertig said.

“There is absolutely no quit in this bunch.”

The mental aspect of the team was put to the test Friday when

Fertig sat starting running back, linebacker and long snapper Bryce

McKendry as well as starting wide receiver, cornerback, kicker,

punter and kick returner Geo Macias. Fertig said the two broke a team

rule, but their absence encouraged the rest of the team.

“Football is a tough game and injuries happen,” Fertig said. “At

any time, you can be missing a guy. The guys got real enthusiastic.

We had the two best practices of the year this week. I think the

younger guys saw an opportunity.”

Two players who took advantage of the opportunity presented were

running back Daniel Cheesboro and receiver Ryan Watson. Cheesboro

rushed for a game-high 177 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries and

Watson produced 80 yards and one score on three receptions.

While Cheesboro and Watson made the most of increased playing

time, the rest of the offense helped tremendously.

“[Offensive tackle] Ian Morton had his best game,” Fertig said.

“[Sophomore guard] Steven Ruby played really well, also. And Nelson

Leon, our center, is the smallest of the bunch [at 6-foot-1, 200

pounds]. Ocean View would move their defensive tackle down [to a

noseguard in front of Leon], and [Leon] did a good job of cutting him

off. Our offensive line is starting to come together and blocked real

well in the second half. [Fullback Dave] Moreno ran well and blocked

better than he has the last two weeks.”

The blocking opened holes for Cheesboro to run through and gave

quarterback Nick Cox enough time to find Watson. Cox finished with a

career-high 210 passing yards and two touchdown passes.

“[Ocean View] was overplaying our slot receiver, which left Watson

in one-on-one coverage,” Fertig said. “Cox did a nice job of

recognizing that and exploiting it.”

Estancia plays Westminster (4-2, 2-0) Thursday at 7 p.m. at Orange

Coast College. The Lions are ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section

Division IX.

* CORONA DEL MAR: The Sea Kings snapped a two-game losing streak

by thoroughly dominating Calvary Chapel, 42-6, Saturday night at

Westminster High in the Pacific Coast League opener for both schools.

The convincing win allowed Coach Dick Freeman to rest his starters

for most of the second half and evaluate some of the younger players.

“We’ve got a pretty good sophomore class,” Freeman said. “Guys

were running hard.”

Sophomore Dio Johnson was CdM’s leading rusher, collecting 70

yards and a touchdown on six carries.

“Dio is a big ol’ guy [6-3, 207], and he is real talented,”

Freeman said. But Johnson had the help of a quality offensive line.

“We kept our starting line in there longer because we didn’t want our

skill guys getting killed. And plus, we don’t have a lot of linemen.”

The play of the offensive line has been a pleasant surprise for

CdM. The number of linemen available before the season began

concerned Freeman. He said in a school the size of Corona del Mar,

with an enrollment of 1,444, according to last year’s CIF Southern

Section directory, there are fewer people to choose from to play on

the line.

“I’m not surprised [at how the offensive line has played],”

Freeman said. “I think that was our brightest spot against Calvary

Chapel because they were running eight- and nine-man fronts and we

blocked them and were able to run well.”

While the 36-point differential seems like a lot, it could have

easily been more. The Sea Kings threw one pass in the second half, an

8-yard completion from sophomore Collin Wigley to Tyler Ray.

“You don’t want to [run up the score] on anybody,” Freeman said.

Corona del Mar (4-2, 1-0 in the PCL) plays host to Northwood

(3-1-2, 1-0) Friday at 7 p.m. at Newport Harbor High. CdM is ranked

No. 5 in Division IX and the Timberwolves are No. 9

* SAGE HILL: The first night home game for the Lightning was a

resounding success. The temporary light fixtures provided ample

illumination. The opportunity to play under the lights for homecoming

reportedly excited the entire student body, not just the football

team. And, oh yeah, the Lightning destroyed Silver Valley, 62-19, in

a nonleague victory.

“What impressed me most was the intensity and the caliber of

hitting by our team,” Coach Tom Monarch said. “We practiced hitting

and driving through a tackle all week, and to see it come to fruition

is exciting.”

Before the game, Monarch said he was concerned about Sage players

trying to be more physical than the bigger Trojan team. But after the

game, Monarch was pleased with how his smaller team played.

“It was a game where a lot of our underclassmen played like

seniors,” Monarch said. “They upped their level in terms of

physicality. I told our linebackers Friday night, ‘Tonight is the

night when you went from boys to men.’ ”

Monarch said the entire offensive line played well in opening

holes for Keya Manshadi and Don Ayres. Tackles Brandon David and

Michael Morgan, guards Kyle Rammer and Morgan Brief, and center Bryan

Kornswiet allowed Sage Hill to rush for 330 yards, and did not allow

a sack in seven pass attempts.

The line averages less than 200-pounds, with 5-4, 170-pound Morgan Brief the runt of the unit. But don’t confuse his stature with the

size of his ability.

“Morgan is a spark plug and one of our leaders on and off the

field,” Monarch said. “I’ve told people for several years that the

size of a team’s O-line is the most overrated aspect of high school

football because I will take toughness and quickness over size any

day of the week. In high school, it doesn’t matter. That changes in

college and the pros where you need that size and quickness together.

But it doesn’t matter if you’re in a Division I, Division XIII or an

eight-man high school team, every coach in Orange County can tell you

of a great 170-pound lineman they’ve had.”

Sage Hill (5-1) travels to Riverside Friday to face Sherman Indian

(1-4).

* NEWPORT HARBOR: The Sailors’ 10-10 tie with Foothill in the Sea

View League opener Friday night left both coaches feeling like a win

slipped through their fingers.

“We had our chances to win,” Foothill Coach Doug Case said after

game.

“If we played the first half like we played the second half, we

would have won,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said.

One of the biggest factors in the Tars’ improved second-half play

of senior running back Trevor Theriot. He rushed for 174 yards after

intermission. Of course, Theriot had help.

“Our offensive line started to knock them off the ball,” Brinkley

said. “We had a big push up front that opened up lanes for Theriot.

We were inside-zone blocking and combo blocking on their inside

linebackers.”

Theriot’s game-tying, 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter

was to the left side, behind the blocks of tackle Steve Joslin and

guard Saami Khalifian. Brinkley said he was impressed with Joseph

Flores, who filled in at center for the injured Chris Taylor. And

Brinkley said right guard Efrain Castro and right tackle Charles

Schultz provided great run blocking and pass protection. Quarterback

Kasey Peters was not sacked in 20 pass attempts.

Brinkley said some of the offensive line’s efficiency, especially

in the running game, was a product of the Knights’ defense.

“[Foothill] was running a three-five look with eight guys around

the ball in the first half,” Brinkley said. “They switched to a

four-man front and a four-deep shell in the second half. That gave us

a ratio of defenders where we were able to run the ball. They wanted

to take away our passing game, which allowed us to run the ball.”

Still, 221 rushing yards in a game is a testament to the offensive

line.

Newport Harbor (5-0-1, 0-0-1 in league) plays host to Aliso Niguel

(6-0, 1-0) Thursday at 7 p.m. The Tars are ranked No. 1 in Division

VI and the Wolverines are No. 7.

* COSTA MESA: Coach Tom Baldwin thinks the Mustangs are better

then their 1-6 record indicates.

“We should have won that [Saddleback] game, and we should have won

that Laguna Beach game,” he said. “I don’t mind losing to CdM because

it is a better football team than us. Saddleback was not better than

us in any phase of the game.”

Mesa lost, 27-14, Friday to the Roadrunners, but Costa Mesa

controlled the game. The Mustangs had 15 first downs and only needed

to punt twice, while accumulating 224 rushing yards and controlling

the clock.

Mesa lost by shooting itself in the foot with penalties, losing

130 yards on 18 infractions.

“We had a first down on the [Saddleback] 5-yard line, but a

holding call drove us back,” Baldwin said. “We tried to mix up the

count to draw the defense offside, but we were the ones who jumped.

We should have been ahead, 28-0, at the half [instead of a 7-7 tie].”

The Mesa defense did a good job of containing Saddleback runners.

The Roadrunners rushed for 88 yards.

“Any time you can hold a team to under 100 yards rushing, you

should win,” Baldwin said. “It’s a crying shame to lose that game.”

When asked how to eliminate the mistakes, Baldwin said it wasn’t a

matter of schemes.

“Tell them not to hold, I guess,” Baldwin said. “I’m not knocking

the referees because we probably were holding, but there is probably

holding on every play in high school, college and the pros.”

Costa Mesa (1-6, 1-2 in the Golden West League) visits Ocean View

(1-5, 0-2) Friday at 7 p.m.