High School Football: Breakers take control against Estancia

LAGUNA BEACH — Estancia High had no answer for the Laguna Beach run game Friday, and the host Breakers rolled to an impressive Orange Coast League victory.

Laguna scored eight rushing touchdowns, four by senior running back Nathan Lancaster, and took a 59-14 homecoming game victory from the Eagles.

Estancia, coming off a 31-18 loss to city rival Costa Mesa, fell to 0-2 in league and 2-5 overall.

Laguna, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, won its second-straight game to move to 2-0 in league and 5-2 overall. The Breakers go to Jim Scott Stadium Thursday to battle No. 8-ranked Calvary Chapel (6-1, 2-0) in a game that will determine the league leader.

A week ago, Lancaster rushed for a career-high 335 yards in a 55-19 victory over Saddleback. He nearly hit that mark again Friday, rambling for an even 300 on just 19 carries in three quarters.

He needed only 68 yards against the Eagles to move into the No. 2 spot as the No. 2 all-time career rushing leader at Laguna.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said. “We just didn’t play good football tonight. We made too many youthful mistakes and hopefully, this is a learning lesson for us. It hurts, but we will learn from this.”

Laguna never trailed. The Breakers took the opening kickoff in for their first score, a four-yard run by Lancaster. Estancia tied the score late in the first quarter by mounting a nice scoring drive that took the Eagles from their own 41 to the end zone. The drive was set up by an interception by sophomore defensive back DJ Davis at the 41.

Three plays later, sophomore quarterback Connor Brown teamed up with junior Dalton O’Daly on a 57-yard scoring pass. O’Daly got behind Laguna defensive back Josh French at the Laguna 29, caught the ball in stride, and went in for the score. Ivan Perez kick made it a 7-7 game with 2:48 left in the first quarter.

From there, though, the Breakers scored the next 52 points.

Before the half was over, Lancaster scored on runs of 42 and 13 yards, and Laguna quarterback Jack Simon scored on a one-yard keeper as the quick-striking Breakers opened up a 28-7 halftime lead.

The third quarter also was all-Laguna, as Lancaster scored his fourth touchdown on a 13-yard run, which preceded back-to-back touchdown runs by Andres DeLaRosa covering four and seven yards, that took the lead to 49-7.

Laguna junior running back Jake Smith opened up the fourth quarter with a 44-yard scoring run. Estancia’s final score came on a one-yard keeper by Brown with 6:10 to play.

Estancia junior two-way lineman Brian Southwick was injured on DeLaRosa’s seven-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Southwick was in on the tackle of DeLaRosa, and went down at the goal line. Southwick was placed on a backboard and paramedics took him away a half hour later.

Bargas said after the game that it was a neck injury but that Southwick had movement in his toes and hands.

“He made a helmet-to-helmet tackle,” Bargas said. “He was moving while on the ground, and that was a great sign. We’ve been decimated by injuries this year, and Brian’s our starting left tackle and plays both ways.”

Junior running back Indiana Taylor led Estancia in rushing with 83 yards on 14 carries. Brown hit seven of his first 10 passes, one of the incomplete passes was dropped, but only connected on four of his final 11 passes and was intercepted three times.

Eight Laguna rushers ran the ball and combined for 504 yards. The Breakers struck quickly for many of their touchdowns. Their opening drive of the night covered 57 yards in just 57 seconds. After the Brown-to-O’Daly touchdown pass tied the score, the Breakers responded with a two-play, 66-yard drive that took only 35 seconds and culminated in Lancaster’s 42-yard touchdown run.

Laguna’s final score of the first half came on a four-play, 65-yard march that took only 1:15 off the second-quarter clock and ended with Simon’s one-yard keeper.

“We have been making way too many mistakes in games and that has cost us,” Bargas said. “Laguna’s a very fast team and they ran on us tonight. We just couldn’t stop them.”

Estancia returns home next Friday to host Godinez at 7 p.m.

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Laguna Beach 59, Estancia 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Estancia 7 – 0 – 0 – 7 — 14

Laguna 14 – 14 – 21 – 10 — 59

FIRST QUARTER

LB – Lancaster 4 run (Knill kick), 11:03.

EST – O’ Daly 57 pass from Brown (Perez kick), 2:48.

SECOND QUARTER

LB – Lancaster 13 run (Knill kick), 9:10.

LB – Simon 1 run (Knill kick), 1:12.

THIRD QUARTER

LB – Lancaster 13 run (Knill kick), 8:37.

LB – DeLaRosa 4 run (Knill kick), 4:28.

LB – DeLaRosa 7 run (Knill kick), 00:54.

FOURTH QUARTER

LB – Smith 44 run (Knill kick), 11:36.

EST – Brown 1 run (Perez kick), 6:10.

LB – Knill 30 FG, 3:02.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

EST – Taylor, 14-83.

LB – Lancaster, 19-300, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

EST – Brown, 12-24-3, 137.

LB – Simon, 7-12-1, 67.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

EST – Jackson, 5-61.

LB – Martinez, 3-39.