Estancia seeking dividends

Second-year coach Brian Barnes believes this season’s Estancia High football team represents a buyer’s market.

The Eagles are buying into the philosophies espoused by Barnes, and paying the price to make physical improvements that should help Estancia increase its bottom line: more wins.

“We have a lot to prove,” Barnes said as his team put the finishing touches on preparation for tonight’s season opener against Mark Keppel. Kickoff is at 7 at Orange Coast College.

The Eagles are coming off a 2-9 season that ended with a 58-7 loss in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division VII playoffs.

Mark Keppel is coming off a 3-7 campaign that ended with seven straight losses. During the losing streak, the Alhambra-based Aztecs were outscored a combined 296-127.

Keppel, whose first-year coach, Luis Garcia, took over about a month ago, appears to be in the same position Estancia was last fall.

“They have a new coach and, rumor has it, a new system, just like we had last year,” Barnes said.

Keppel has traditionally battled a significant size disadvantage in the trenches and Barnes is eager to see if his team can display signs of a running game that evaded the Eagles for most of last season.

“I’m excited to see what we can do running the football,” said Barnes, whose leading rusher in 2005 — senior Ezequiel Villalvazo — finished with 110 yards.

Barnes will also get a look at junior quarterback Mike Morley, who is making his first varsity start.

Morley steps in for Newport-Mesa Dream Team performer Ryan Watson, who threw for 1,453 yards and 11 touchdowns last season as a senior.

Morley won’t have to develop a go-to receiver, because Matt Redding, who caught 36 passes for 409 yards and seven TDs, is back with 20 extra pounds of hard-earned muscle.

Starting running back Rafael Alejandre, a senior, will operate behind a bigger, more experienced line led by junior tackles Connor McKendry (6-foot-4, 245 pounds) and Sean Ulrich (6-3, 237).

Defensively, the Eagles should be led by the senior linebacking corps of Alejandre, Danny Orozco and Tim Morley.

Redding anchors the secondary at strong safety, while senior Edgar Vargas, a cornerback who also starts at receiver, has shown big-play ability in previous varsity appearances.

Keppel should be led by two-way starter Erik Jiminez. The 6-1, 185-pound senior was the team’s third-leading rusher last season (430 yards on 86 carries) and led the Aztecs with 77 tackles.

“[Jiminez] is going to be a tough kid to stop,” said Barnes, who has viewed two of the Aztecs’ 2005 games on videotape.

Estancia is attempting to stop a pair of losing streaks. They lost their last two games last season (and six of their last seven), and are 0-2 in their last two openers.

“Last year, we were getting to know our kids,” Barnes said. “This year, we understand our personnel a lot better.”