Hungry Lions use might, light up host Eagles

Barry Faulkner

The lights came back on and, finally, after nearly four quarters of

futility, juice was restored to the Estancia High offense in a 42-7

Golden West League football loss to Westminster Thursday at Orange

Coast College.

The Lions (5-2, 3-0 in league), ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern

Section Division VII, marched up and down the field on their way to

609 yards of total offense through the first three quarters.

Meanwhile, Estancia (3-4, 1-2), which dropped its 14th decision in its last 16 league games, managed just 50 yards through three

periods.

Despite widespread substituting by the Lions, there was more of

the same, until the Eagles took over on their own 20 with 49 seconds

remaining.

Quarterback Nick Cox found Bryce McKendry on a 45-yard streak on

first down to give the Eagles their third first down of the evening.

After a Westminster penalty moved the ball to the 20, Cox threw to

the back of the end zone, where Ryan Sanford hauled it in for a

touchdown. Geo Macias added the conversion kick to avert what would

have been the first Estancia shutout in eight games.

Donovan Henrikson recovered the subsequent onside kick and Cox hit

Sanford for 42 yards to the Westminster 7 with six seconds left.

A scrambling Cox was knocked out of bounds at the 1 as time

expired, but the prolific finish helped the Eagles bring something

positive out of a game that was, well, forgettable.

Westminster, the clear front-runner for the league title, finished

with 647 yards of total offense. The Lions might have scored more had

they not committed 12 penalties for 109 yards.

Westminster senior tailback Carlos Brooks rambled for 243 rushing

yards on 23 carries, while senior quarterback Steven Betz amassed 242

passing yards, completing 10 of 14, with three touchdown passes.

Senior 280-pound fullback-tight end Michael Blackburn caught two

touchdown passes from Betz and threw another on a double pass in the

final minute before halftime, connecting with Charles Dolan for an

80-yard TD.

And while the Lions used finesse, it was physical dominance that

was their primary weapon, on both sides of the ball.

Estancia managed just 28 yards on the ground and had just 25

through the air, until catching fire in the final minute.

Cox finished 9 of 19 for 132 yards, with two interceptions. But he

seldom had enough time to find receivers, as the Estancia blocking

wall was consistently overpowered.

Westminster’s prowess in the neutral zone was illustrated by the

fact that the visitors nailed Estancia runners 14 times for either a

1-yard gain, no gain, or a loss.

The game was delayed 20 minutes with 10:00 left in the third

quarter, when the lights went out. Power was restored and the game

resumed.

Sanford wound up with four catches for 71 yards for the hosts, who

will now attempt to gain a top-three league finish with victories

over Saddleback (Oct. 29), Santa Ana (Nov. 4), and Costa Mesa (Nov.

12).

None of Estancia’s 14 possessions included more than four

offensive plays.

Macias punted nine times for an average of nearly 40 yards,

including booming blasts of 58, 50 and three of 42 yards.

McKendry, the Eagles’ leading rusher coming in with 479 yards on

99 carries, was limited to minus-4 yards on eight attempts. He left

the game with an apparent neck muscle strain after being drilled for

no gain on the play before the blackout.

Daniel Cheesboro took over and found some limited success. He

finished with 29 yards on five carries.

Brooks’ rushing effort left him about 58 yards shy of 1,000 this

season.

Estancia was intercepte twice and lost one fumble, but Lions

turned only one of the turnovers into points.

Estancia’s Dave Moreno and Ian Morton recovered Westminster

fumbles.