TWO MINUTE DRILL

Estancia High running back Carlos Mendez had one of his best games of the season against Calvary Chapel, Monday, rushing for 207 yards on 30 carries in the Eagles’ 10-7 Orange Coast League football win at Orange Coast College.

Mendez, who Coach Mike Bargas said suffered cramps in both legs in the second half, was nevertheless able to break off a 27-yard run on Estancia’s final drive when he followed a block downfield from receiver Ryan Redding. On the drive, he carried five times for 63 yards.

The yardage total was the second-highest of the season for Mendez, who rushed for 211 yards in Estancia’s 21-16 win over Buena Park on Sept. 14.

Mendez, who leads the Newport-Mesa area in rushing, now has 1,008 yards through the Eagles’ first eight games and is averaging nearly 5.4 yards per carry. Mendez has also rushed for at least 72 yards in all eight games.

 Perhaps the worst part about Costa Mesa earning its first victory of the season, an 8-6 Orange Coast League-opening triumph at Laguna Beach Monday night, is that the players have virtually no time to savor the accomplishment.

The Mustangs got to work Tuesday on preparing for the Battle for the Bell Friday night against cross-town rival Estancia.

Mustangs’ Coach Jeremy Osso said after Monday’s game that he’d manage to fit in a little revelry, anyway.

“I’m going to celebrate,” he said.

 Eighty-four points in a high school football game. More suited for a basketball game.

After Sage Hill lost its Academy League opener at St. Margaret’s, 84-14, Monday, first-year coach Pete Anderson looked stunned.

“I certainly wouldn’t have anticipated this big a point spread,” Anderson said after Sage Hill came up way short of beating its rival in football for the first time in school history. “Sometimes you have nights like that.”

The night felt strange to Sage Hill free safety Tom Multari before the Lightning (6-2, 0-1 in league) played St. Margaret’s (8-0, 1-0), ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division. The game was pushed back to Monday because the air quality, due to the fires in Orange County was ruled unhealthy on Friday and Saturday.

“I’m not going to lie and say that it was the same as a Friday night,” Multari said. “I think the weirdest thing is not practicing for a week and then coming and getting the pads on. I don’t want to make any excuses. We just didn’t really come out and make plays.”

The Tartans executed flawlessly in every facet of the game, showing why they’re the defending league and section champs and why they’ve won 22 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Eleven rushing touchdowns, one interception return for a touchdown, six touchbacks, and the defense put the St. Margaret’s offense in tremendous field position throughout. The defense recovered two fumbles, had two interceptions and forced Sage Hill to turn the ball over on downs twice.

“The other team [was quoted] in the paper that they’re better athletes and they’re bigger. So we took that personal,” said St. Margaret’s running back Hunter Steffien after scoring four touchdowns and accounting for 135 of the offense’s 369 rushing yards. “We wanted to show them that even if that’s true it doesn’t matter, we’re a better team.

“We’re going to be scary when it comes time for playoffs.”

 Though the game at Laguna Beach was the first time Costa Mesa has played on Monday night, it was not unprecedented for the Breakers.

Laguna Beach played Bonita in a CIF playoff game, in 1949 at the Santa Ana Bowl. The game had been scheduled for the usual Friday and/or Saturday, but was delayed for some reason.

 In Estancia’s victory, its defense did a better job of stopping Calvary Chapel running back Brandon Snook as the game went on.

Snook rushed the ball 21 times for 180 yards, often going off the left side for significant yardage. However, in his last six carries, he managed just 12 yards.

“We were flat [early in the game], we were playing on our heels,” Bargas said. “It’s tough when everything is a walk-through. We prepped them up film-wise, but there’s nothing like the real thing. But it’s a good test for these guys in resiliency, and they believe in themselves.”

 It was obvious that the route to success for Los Alamitos would be through the air against Newport Harbor Monday. The Griffins had just 164 yards rushing, and 78 of them were gains made by quarterback Clark Evans, who threw for 321 passing yards.

It made for some compelling battles in the secondary.

Despite two interceptions and at least four passes that were deflected or batted down, Evans was still able to sneak a few passes by Newport Harbor defenders for significant gains.

Sophomore Griffins receiver Paul Richardson split the Sailors’ defensive backs to haul in a touchdown catch deep on the left side of the Newport Harbor end zone. It was the Griffins’ second score of the night.

“Hats off to their receivers,” said junior wide receiver/cornerback JB Green. “They have really good receivers. They make big plays and hopefully we can learn from that and adjust for next week.”

 The players wearing jersey No. 6 , Green and Los Al’s Darryl Jenkins, provided another close matchup.

Green scored a touchdown to make it 17-17 while wrapped up with Jenkins on a 61-yard pass play from Andrew McDonald. Green jostled with Jenkins, who was called for pass interference, to make the catch anyway and high-tailed it to the end zone. McDonald ended the night with 264 passing yards.

“After last week, it’s a huge step up from what our offense did last week,” Green said.

 Costa Mesa’s victory gave the Mustangs a chance to show off their postgame “hit drill,” in which the players line up in formation and respond to quick commands shouted by assistant Mike Harrington. They alternately slapped their helmets or their thigh pads to create a staccato cadence to the drill, which was interrupted by brief clapping sessions.

 Osso said the scheme that led to his team blocking two Laguna Beach punts, both times leading to Costa Mesa points, was stolen from viewing Virginia Tech.

But senior outside linebacker Cody De La Mater, who blocked the punt that led to a safety early in the third quarter, said there wasn’t much to the plan.

“I just went after the ball,” De La Mater said.

 Estancia and Costa Mesa are now faced with the unusual situation of having just three days to prepare for the Battle for the Bell, scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Newport Harbor High.

Bargas offered no excuses, though.

“It’s a cross-town rivalry game,” Bargas said. “If these guys aren’t pumped up to play their cross-town rival, then I don’t know what to do, besides shocking them with electricity or something like that.”

Bargas said his team should be ready to play.

“We expect to win,” he said. “We’ve lost quite a few games, but we always think we can compete with people. Hopefully we improve on this game and clean up those mistakes.”

 Because of the unusually short week, Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley and the Sailors didn’t have much time to relish a dramatic 31-27 win over Los Alamitos. Instead, the Tars quickly turned their attention to Friday’s Sunset League game at Marina (3-5, 0-3 in league).

“It puts us in the hunt, but right now, we’re going to enjoy this for a couple hours, and then get ready for Marina,” Brinkley said, just seconds after learning that Esperanza (7-1, 2-1) lost to Edison (5-3, 2-1). “There’s no time to rest this week. We already did the preparation. We did our film breakdown this weekend for Marina while we were really getting ready for these guys. [Sunday], I told my wife about 5 o’clock I needed to put down my Marina stuff and pull out my Los Al stuff.”

With Esperanza, Newport Harbor, Edison, and Los Alamitos all holding 2-1 league records, two games doesn’t leave much to see how the playoff and league title hunt shakes out.

“Tomorrow we’ve got to hit the field running,” Brinkley said. “There’s no introduction day like a normal Monday. We’ve just got to go.”

 Two big plays is all Sage Hill’s offense managed. Quarterback Jamie McGee hit wide receiver Nick Witte on a 69-yard touchdown and a 65-yard touchdown.

The first score put the Lightning ahead, 8-7, after a two-point conversion. The last one cut the deficit to 70-14.

McGee, who has thrown a Newport-Mesa area best 26 touchdowns, left the game when the team turned the ball over on the opening possession of the second half.

“He just missed a series,” Anderson said of McGee, who was sacked four times. “He was a little shaken up.”

— From staff reports