Eagles back in playoffs

COSTA MESA — This week’s quote of the week for the Estancia High football team was “Give us a chance.”

On Friday night in the Eagles’ regular-season finale, they felt at times like the referees weren’t adhering to that motto. Estancia was flagged for 15 penalties for 144 yards.

But although yellow might have been the color of the night, in the end Estancia got the green light to return to the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs after topping Calvary Chapel, 23-12, at Estancia High.

Estancia (6-4, 2-2 in the Orange Coast League) gave itself a chance in the must-win game, and clinched the last of three guaranteed Orange Coast League playoff spots. Estancia will learn of its first-round opponent Sunday.

“Especially with this being senior year, I wanted to come out winning,” said senior quarterback Alek Kirshner, who threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to George De La Torre and ran for another. “Coach [Mike] Bargas, the whole coaching staff, this whole team, we came together and pulled through. It’s a very, very proud moment.”

Senior tailback Sean Davis had 109 rushing yards in the first quarter alone for Estancia, finishing with 125 yards and a touchdown. Seniors Alex Abalos (91 yards) and Kirshner (48), as well as sophomore Alex Trancoso (40), also had success running the ball despite numerous holding penalties.

“The line did great,” said Kirshner, who shared time at quarterback with junior John Diego. “It’s pretty cliche, there’s no ‘I’ in team, but all of us got it done together.”

Estancia built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on two of its first three possessions on a 38-yard scamper from Davis and De La Torre’s touchdown reception.

Estancia then added to the lead on Kirshner’s 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, as he dodged tacklers and found the end zone. But Calvary (5-5, 1-3) responded back on the next play from scrimmage. Junior Brandon Perez’s 78-yard touchdown run with seven minutes to go in the game made it 20-12, Estancia.

As the penalties continued, Estancia found it difficult to run out the clock. But with Kirshner back in, it put together a 71-yard drive that stalled at the Calvary Chapel eight-yard line.

Senior Jeff Kirchberg then provided the finishing touches, connecting on a 25-yard field goal with just 37 seconds to go.

“At least we get another week to try to catch the mistakes,” said Bargas, whose team missed the playoffs a year ago by losing its last game to Calvary Chapel. “We’re going to closely look at the film. It happens, but 16 penalties is a bit much ... We didn’t get any breaks, that’s for sure. Our kids played hard but when you get flagged so much, it’s really difficult to get things rolling.”

With junior tight end Omar Gutierrez (shoulder) sidelined, Alex Calabrese, Matt Carlyle and Austin Abernathy all had big catches for Estancia. Abernathy’s 18-yard catch was key, as it converted a third-and-six at the Estancia 41 with around three minutes to go.

“The offensive line’s been doing a nice job and the defense stepped up when we needed to,” Bargas said. “I think we have a good football team. We’ve run into some bumps along the road but we’re 100% better than we were last year [when Estancia finished with a 3-7 record]. We’ve got six wins and hopefully we can change the history and maybe do something in the playoffs.”

Estancia 23, Calvary Chapel 12

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Calvary Chapel 0-6-0-6--12

Estancia 14-0-0-9--23 

FIRST QUARTER

Est – Davis 38 run (Kirchberg kick), 9:11.

Est – De La Torre 9 pass from A. Kirshner (Kirchberg kick), 1:58.

SECOND QUARTER

CC – Perez 1 run (kick failed), 7:16.

FOURTH QUARTER

Est – A. Kirshner 23 run (kick failed), 7:24.

CC – Perez 78 run (run failed), 7:00.

Est – Kirchberg 25 FG, 0:37.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CC – Perez, 17-132, 1 TD; Schick, 5-15; Tizon, 4-3; McDaniel, 1-0; McLuckey, 2-minus-12.

Est – Davis, 8-125, 1 TD; Abalos, 16-91; A. Kirshner, 6-48, 1 TD; Trancoso, 3-40; Diego, 2-3.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CC – McLuckey, 5-11-0, 52.

Est – A. Kirshner, 7-9-0, 84, 1 TD; Diego, 2-5-1, 10.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CC – McDaniel, 2-36; Perez, 3-20; Schick, 1-minus-4.

Est – Calabrese, 5-50; Abernathy, 1-18; Carlyle, 2-17; De La Torre, 1-9, 1 TD.