Eagles find some positives

Estancia gets routed, 58-7, but finds the end zone on the game’s final play to avoid shutout.WHITTIER -- As victories go, it was a small one -- but perhaps one to build on.

Estancia High salvaged a touchdown in the closing seconds of its 58-7 loss to top-seeded Santa Fe in a CIF Southern Section Division VII first-round football game on Friday night. With Matt Redding’s game-ending touchdown reception, the Eagles found something to take with them into the offseason.

“This is a building block for us,” Estancia Coach Brian Barnes said. “Fifty-eight to nothing hurts. Even though we still lost, it lifted the whole feeling. We can get on the bus with our heads up.”

It didn’t take long for Santa Fe (11-0) to assert its dominance over the proceedings, scoring 28 points in the first quarter and adding 21 in the second. After that, it was a race to see whether the Chiefs would get their seventh shutout of the season.

The officials instituted a running clock midway through the third quarter.

Santa Fe, which had the ball for just 10:31 in the game, appeared to have won the battle when the Eagles were forced to punt with a little more than two minutes remaining. But Estancia got a reprieve when the Chiefs’ Manuel Lopez inexplicably tried to field the punt and bobbled it into the hands of Estancia’s Alex LaGrand at the Santa Fe 18.

After an incompletion, Ryan Watson connected with Redding on a shovel pass for nine yards. An unsportsmanlike conduct call against Santa Fe pushed the ball to the four-yard-line, setting up Redding’s touchdown reception.

“I just wanted to get that one score,” Redding said. “At halftime, we just wanted to score and send the seniors out on a high note.”

Estancia (2-9) went into the game facing long odds and they got even longer with running back Ezequiel Villalvazo out with a sprained right ankle. Villalvazo played briefly in the second half, but never touched the ball.

That left the offense in the hands of Watson, who hung in against a blitzing Santa Fe defense. Despite being sacked six times, the senior completed 20 of 30 passes for 191 yards -- though he did throw three interceptions.

Redding caught nine passes for 89 yards, and LaGrand had five catches for 47 yards.

For the Chiefs, Angel Molina completed six of eight passes for 164 yards and four touchdowns in one half of work. Miguel Garcia had two interceptions, returning them both for touchdowns, and Dante Chestnut returned a fumble by Watson 15 yards for another score.