Eagles record shutout

ANAHEIM — When it was over, the Estancia High football players huddled together for a celebratory snapshot. But the Eagles’ 21-0 nonleague win over Magnolia Thursday at Glover Stadium is clearly more than a flash point to a season in which bright things figure to lay ahead.

The win, keyed by an amorphous defense and a methodical, sometimes explosive ground game led by senior tailback Alex Abalos, was the third straight for the Eagles, who improved to 3-1. The three-game win streak matches the program’s longest since the 1996 squad opened the season 5-0.

It was the first shutout in 27 games, since Estancia stifled Costa Mesa, 17-0, late in 2006.

It was also a stark reversal to a 58-14 thumping absorbed from the Sentinels (0-3) last season, when former Estancia Coach Dave Perkins watched his Magnolia unit amass 491 rushing yards and 547 yards of total offense.

The holes in the Estancia defense were significantly less exposed Thursday, as the hosts produced just 140 yards of offense and never got past the Eagles’ 32-yard line.

Some 17 times, Estancia defenders limited ballcarriers to one or fewer yards. Six additional times, Magnolia rushers gained just two yards.

“Our defense played great tonight,” Bargas said. “A goose egg was huge. Last year, it was not quite that, so it was a great job by these guys.”

Abalos made sure the defense didn’t get all the credit, as he collected 244 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Abalos now has 621 rushing yards in four games, 437 of those coming the last two weeks.

Abalos didn’t find the end zone until the game had already been virtually decided, scoring from 11 yards out to finalize the scoring with 7:02 left in the game.

Fittingly, it was the defense that broke the scoreless tie, as senior outside linebacker Coleman Brown poked the ball loose while recording a sack and senior inside linebacker Sean Davis scooped it up and sprinted 31 yards for a touchdown with 6:16 left in the half.

After Magnolia went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, Estancia drove 58 yards on eight plays, with Davis capping the march with a three-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left in the half.

John Diego added the second of his three conversion kicks and Magnolia had more than it could overcome.

Davis, junior end Omar Gutierrez, junior end C.J. Thomas, Brown and sophomore end Alipa Peters were among the defensive catalysts for Estancia, which used two basic schemes to combat Magnolia’s single- and double-wing sets. “We hung tight,” Davis said. “We worked really hard and we stuck to the strategy. [The Sentinels] came out exactly how we though the were going to come out. It wasn’t that tricky.”

Magnolia managed just three plays of at least 10 yards, with none of more than 13.

Meanwhile, Abalos broke off gains of 58, 32 and 21 yards, often making would-be tacklers miss.

Estancia 21, Magnolia 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Estancia 0-14-0-7--21

Magnolia 0-0-0-0--0

SECOND QUARTER

Est – Davis 31 fumble return (Diego kick), 6:16.

Est – Davis 3 run (Diego kick), 0:53.

FOURTH QUARTER

Est – Abalos 11 run (Diego kick), 7:02.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Est – Abalos 29-244, 1 TD; Davis, 3-10, 1 TD; Troncoso, 4-10; A. Kirshner, 4-4; Carlyle, 1-0.

Mag – Magallanes, 27-118; Ofisa, 6-20; Bates, 11-14; Oliver, 2-0; Gonzalez, 2-minus 11; Team, 1-minus 14.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Est – A. Kirshner, 2-8-1, 26.

Mag – Nagallanes, 1-4-0, 13; Akbar, 0-3-0.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Est – Calabrese, 2-26.

Mag – Ofisa, 1-13.