Balanced Estancia emerges victorious against Artesia
The first half of Estancia’s fifth football game saw more points scored than any of its prior games this season had at their conclusion, and yet absolutely nothing had been decided in the nonleague contest against Lakewood Artesia.
Estancia stayed the course with a scoring drive to begin the second half and then held on for a 30-21 win over the visiting Pioneers on Friday at Jim Scott Stadium.
Heriberto Sanchez Martinez’s 29-yard touchdown pass up the right sideline to Brandon Bettinghausen on a fourth-and-5 was the difference.
The duo connected four times for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Bettinghausen also found the west end zone with 38 seconds left in the first half, capping off a 98-yard drive after the Eagles got their first stop when Vincent Rodriguez fell on a fumble on the doorstep of Estancia’s goal line.
“We just saw that the matchup [with] Brandon wasn’t even fair, so we just kept targeting [the defensive back],” Sanchez Martinez said. “We flipped formations just so Brandon could be on him, and then I just threw it up to him. He’s a ball player. He knows how to make a move. He’ll come down with it. We practiced that a lot, just endless seams and seams.”
Artesia, in its own right, looked virtually unstoppable in the first half, particularly with a running game powered by quarterback Charlie Lopez and halfback Julius Padilla.
Lopez and Padilla ran through the Estancia defense for a combined 224 rushing yards in the first half, averaging 9.3 yards per attempt on 24 carries.
After Estancia (4-1) took its first lead in the final minute before halftime, Artesia (5-1) still had time to answer. Joe Thomas Jr. had a 50-yard kickoff return. On the next play, Lopez stood in the pocket and evaded a sack, before taking off and powering his way to a touchdown near the left pylon.
“He’s explosive,” Artesia coach Connor Crook said of Lopez, who rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns. “He’s a good football player. My first season here as an assistant coach was his freshman year, so I’ve kind of seen him grow throughout the years — not only as a player but as a person, too.”
The sides went to halftime with the score knotted up at 21-21. Estancia, which was coming off a 38-0 win over Santiago, had otherwise not played in a game that totaled more than 28 points.
Artesia had not put the ball in the air until the second half, and when Lopez released his first attempt Sean Sweeney made the downfield interception. The Pioneers also had issues with the center-to-quarterback exchange. It proved costly, as Lopez dove on a wayward snap in the end zone for a safety that promptly ended Artesia’s opening possession of the second half.
“Obviously, the defense was struggling, they were having a hard time tackling, but I told the guys, ‘We just marched the ball 90-something yards, and we’ll do it again,’ and I could see it in their eyes that they thought we could do it,” Estancia coach Mike Bargas said. “It’s part of that perfect plan to get the ball in the second half and go score, so it was awesome. It was methodical, we just have to call some good plays.
“I didn’t see them waver. I think that all probably started with the kick in the butt by University, [a 13-6 loss on Sept. 12], and then going out with Santiago. This shows character in players, and so I thought it was awesome the defense did what they did. They finally settled in, and we went after them.”
Jeff Brown, the Eagles’ junior running back, carried the ball 20 times for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Estancia’s first two drives ended with Brown finding the end zone, including a 60-yard sprint to tie the score at 14-14 in the first quarter.
“It’s exciting,” Brown said of competing in a high-scoring game. “It’s nerve-wracking. It’s kind of awful. It’s fun, honestly, but you don’t know what’s going to happen next. You kind of just have to think about, ‘I have to make the play. The whole team has to make the play,’ but when they’re scoring, it fuels you. You’re like, ‘I want to score now.’ You got to get back on it.”
Nonleague
Estancia 30, Artesia 21
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Artesia 14 - 7 - 0 - 0 — 21
Estancia 14 -7 - 9 - 0 — 30
FIRST QUARTER
A — Lopez 13 run (Martinez kick), 8:02.
E — Brown 5 run (Sanchez kick), 4:47.
A — Lopez 34 run (Martinez kick), 2:05.
E — Brown 60 run (Sanchez kick), 1:12.
SECOND QUARTER
E — Bettinghausen 34 pass from Sanchez Martinez (Sanchez kick), 0:38.
A — Lopez 21 run (Martinez kick), 0:17.
THIRD QUARTER
E — Bettinghausen 29 pass from Sanchez Martinez (Sanchez kick), 7:54.
E — Safety (tackle in end zone), 7:40.
FOURTH QUARTER
None.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
A — Lopez, 15-144, 3 TDs; Padilla, 16-111.
E — Brown, 20-189, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
A — Lopez, 0-2-1, 0; Peck, 1-4-0, 8.
E — Sanchez Martinez 16-21-0, 209, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
A — Ordaz, 1-8.
E — Bettinghausen, 4-105, 2 TDs.
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