Eagles win Battle for the Bell

Rick Devereux

The Estancia High football team ended its season on a high note even

though the Eagles will miss the CIF Southern Section Division VII

playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Like all great rivalries, Estancia’s season was made complete by

beating Golden West League and crosstown foe Costa Mesa, 18-13,

Friday at Orange Coast College.

Estancia (4-6, 2-4 in league) improved its record by one game from

a year ago and also won back the golden Victory Bell that stays with

the winning team until the two do battle again next year. The

Mustangs were the winners the previous three years.

Costa Mesa (2-8, 2-4) missed a chance to force a three-way tie for

third in the league if the Mustangs would have won. Saddleback (6-4,

3-3) lost to league champion Westminster (8-2, 6-0) Thursday and

Santa Ana (5-5, 3-3) beat Ocean View (1-9, 0-6) Friday. A coin flip

would have determined the third-place representative in the playoffs.

It looked as if Estancia was fighting for a playoff berth to start

the game.

An energetic Eagles’ squad forced two turnovers in the first

quarter. Junior cornerback Ezequiel Villavazo intercepted a pass at

Costa Mesa’s 27-yard line on the Mustangs’ opening series. The Costa

Mesa defense did not allow a first down and the Eagles could not

convert a 37-yard field goal.

After forcing a punt on Costa Mesa’s ensuing possession, Estancia

drove 70 yards on six plays, finalized when Bryce McKendry received

an option pitch and raced 33 yards for a touchdown. The drive began

with back-to-back 13-yard runs by quarterback Nick Cox and fullback

Clayton Mills. The extra-point attempt bounced off the right upright.

Villavazo intercepted his second pass of the game on Costa Mesa’s

first offensive play following the kickoff, but again the Mustangs’

defense did not allow Estancia to score, forcing a turnover on downs

after stuffing a fourth-and-three run well short of a first down.

The Eagles’ defense mirrored the Mustangs’ defense by forcing a

turnover on downs on Costa Mesa’s next possession, but Estancia was

forced to punt later in its drive.

The punt pinned Costa Mesa back on its own 6, and the Eagles

forced a fumble on the first offensive play. Two plays later,

McKendry scored on a 5-yard handoff play off of the right tackle. The

two-point conversion pass failed for a 12-0 score.

Costa Mesa lost a fumble on its first offensive play again, but

the Mustang defense gave the ball right back to the offense by

recovering a fumble on their own 24 with just over two minutes left

in the half.

The Mustangs marched down the field on a 14-yard run by Jorge

Quiroz and a 45-yard pass up the middle to Randy Fea.

On a fourth-and-six play at the Costa Mesa 16 with 11 seconds left

in the half, French lobbed a pass to the back of the end zone and

tight end Jeff Waldron out-jumped the defender and managed to tap a

toe inbounds to give Costa Mesa some momentum going into the half. A

personal foul and back-to-back procedure penalties on the Mustangs

pushed the extra point attempt into a 45-yard kick, which sailed wide

left for a 12-6 game.

Costa Mesa held Estancia to a three-and-out on the first drive of

the third quarter. The Mustangs started their drive with 10:34 left

in the quarter on their own 13. Costa Mesa used its wing-T offense to

perfection, methodically marching down the field in 18 plays. On a

fourth-and-goal from the Estancia 3, the Mustangs forced an

incomplete pass and a turnover on downs with 1:34 left in the quarter.

“That was huge to be able to stop them on that long drive,”

defensive coordinator Dave Olson said. “I think that let us believe

we were going to win this game.”

Instead of trying a field goal that would have made the score 12-9

in favor of Estancia, the Mustangs elected to go for the touchdown.

“I wanted to score a touchdown,” Coach Tom Baldwin said. “We drove

down the field but didn’t get any points and that killed us.”

With their backs against their own goal line, the Eagles marched

97 yards on 10 plays capped off with Dave Moreno’s 41-yard run down

the Estancia sideline. The two-point conversion run was stopped short

to bring the score to 18-6.

Two possessions later, Costa Mesa gave its fans a glimmer of hope

when Waldron came down with the ball despite double coverage for a

29-yard touchdown reception. The first extra point of the game, with

2:28 remaining, gave Costa Mesa a fighting chance with the score,

18-13.

However, senior safety Ricky Montgomery recovered the subsequent

onside kick for Estancia to seal the victory.