Estancia guards against runaway

Rick Devereux

One aspect of coaching is evaluating what your team’s weaknesses are

in order to predict what your opponent will try to exploit.

For Craig Fertig and the rest of his Estancia High coaching staff,

the opponent’s strategy has been clear: run the ball. When opponents

rush for more than 200 yards, the Eagles lose. When opponents are

held to fewer than 200 rushing yards, the Eagles win.

Estancia (3-4, 1-2 in the Golden West League) faces Saddleback

(4-3, 2-2) Friday at the Santa Ana Bowl at 7 p.m. Last year the

Roadrunners beat Estancia, 24-16, en route to a third-place finish in

the Golden West League and a guaranteed CIF Southern Section VII

playoff berth.

Luckily for the Eagles, Saddleback is not a dangerous running

threat. The Roadrunners have rushed for close to 900 yards this year,

the third-fewest in the league behind Ocean View (close to 820

rushing yards) and Estancia (792). But that doesn’t mean the Eagles

are expecting an aerial assault by Saddleback.

“I would assume [Saddleback] will look at tape and copycat what

Westminster did to us,” Fertig said. “We need to try to anticipate

what they are going to try to exploit on offense and what our

weaknesses are on defense.”

Westminster rushed for 325 yards in Friday’s 42-7 league loss.

Saddleback runs a lot of single-back and three-receiver sets,

including a lot of plays out of the shotgun. Chris Washington is the

Roadrunners’ leading rusher. He has rushed for close to 590 yards

with five touchdowns.

The Saddleback defense has been stingy all year. In the Golden

West League, only Westminster (69) has allowed fewer points than

Saddleback (116).

The Roadrunners usually employ four linemen and either three or

four linebackers on defense. Though not a pressure defense,

Saddleback is not afraid to blitz from time to time.

Estancia needs to win this week to stay within striking distance

of a guaranteed CIF playoff spot. With a win, the Eagles could climb

into a tie for third in the league with Costa Mesa. The Golden West

League has three automatic berths into the CIF playoffs.