High School Football: Irvine rallies to beat Estancia

A tale of two halfs went from blowout to fourth-quarter thriller as the Irvine Vaqueros rallied for their first win of the season and the deflated Estancia Eagles were shot down with a 21-17 loss on their home field Friday night.

“It’s a big win. We haven’t won a football game in a year,” said relieved Irvine head coach Erik Terry. “It gets the proverbial monkey off our back.”

“Our guys played hard,” countered Estancia head coach Mike Bargas before lamenting his team’s second half self-destruction. “Irvine’s a well-disciplined team so you can’t make mistakes against those guys.”

Estancia started strong, taking advantage of good fortune on the opening kickoff when Irvine couldn’t handle the low-lining bouncer. The Eagles recovered their own loose ball at the Vaqueros 21-yard line.

On the second play from scrimmage, junior running back Deshandre Kerkhoff took a short inside screen pass from Eric Carrasco and covered the 21 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 Estancia lead.

The Eagles also scored early in the second quarter when Carrasco hit fellow senior Tyler Ross with a 12-yard fade pass in the corner of the end zone as the home team built a 14-point lead.

Estancia extended the margin to 17-0 on its next possession when junior multi-purpose standout Andy Martinez drilled a 37-yard field goal to cap a nine-play drive.

The hulking Martinez also opened the drive with a 27-yard run from the fullback position on top of his duties as a starting defensive end.

If the Eagles felt comfortable heading toward halftime, it would be a mistake. The Vaqueros’ sputtering offense found some traction during desperation time late in the second quarter.

Sophomore receiver Robert Rahimi stepped in at quarterback and connected with senior running back Harold King for a spectacular 30-yard completion. Two plays later, starting QB Dylan Stricker, also a sophomore, found Rahimi for 36 more yards and a first down and goal. It was Stricker’s only completed pass of the first half.

Junior Zeke Allen plowed in from a yard out two plays later to put Irvine on the scoreboard, 17-7 Estancia at the half.

As good as the Eagles looked in the first two quarters, the efficiency vanished in the second half. Multiple penalties disrupted the opening drive in the third quarter before a bad snap resulted in an Irvine fumble recovery at midfield.

The Vaqueros capitalized with a six-play drive capped by senior Brent Miller’s six-yard touchdown run that made it a game at 17-14, Estancia still on top but feeling the heat.

The Eagles’ offense had success moving the ball but nullified its own progress with miscues and more penalties that stifled several drives. Clinging to the three-point lead deep into the fourth quarter, the crushing blow came on a fumble recovered by Irvine in Estancia territory with 3:30 to play.

The Vaqueros offense rose with the momentum, scoring on a fast, four-play, 39-yard drive with Miller covering the final 16 yards on an inspired, tackle-breaking run to the end zone. Irvine took its first lead at 21-17 with 2:10 remaining in the game.

“I was just fortunate [the line] was able to give me a hole and I was able to punch it through,” Miller said.

“He’s just been a great senior leader for us,” Terry said of Miller. “We have to have a guy like him and a guy like Harold King, the only two seniors on that offense, to take care of business and they did it.”

The Eagles kept the home crowd in the stands as Carrasco led a thrilling two-minute drill that drove to the Irvine 19-yard line. On fourth down with the game on the line, his last-gasp pass was intercepted near the goal line and returned to midfield to seal the Irvine victory.

Nonleague

Irvine 21, Estancia 17

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Irvine 0 – 7 – 7 – 7 — 21

Estancia 7 – 10 – 0 – 0 - 17

FIRST QUARTER

Est – Kerkhoff 21 pass from Carrasco (Martinez kick), 11:03.

SECOND QUARTER

Est – Ross 12 pass from Carrasco (Martinez kick), 10:20.

Est – Martinez 37 FG, 4:14.

Irv – Quinones 1 run (Pearce kick), 1:38.

THIRD QUARTER

Irv – Miller 6 run (Pearce kick), 8:08.

FOURTH QUARTER

Irv – Miller 16 run (Pearce kick), 2:02.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Est – Ross, 5-42, TD.

Irv – King, 5-51

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Est – Carrasco, 19-26-1, 245, 2 TD’s.

Irv – Stricker, 8-23-0, 121.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Est – Brown, 8-95.

Irv – Rahimi, 4-72.