Montclair Prep-ping for PCL finale

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Estancia High takes a break from the Pacific League

football wars when it hosts Montclair Prep Friday in a 7 p.m. nonleague

game at Newport Harbor High.

Eagles Coach Dave Perkins, however, hopes his offense returns from its

recent unscheduled breather.

“Our offense hasn’t scored in six quarters, which is a major concern,”

said Perkins, whose team endured just six scoreless quarters the first 6

1/2 games, before hitting the brakes.

The scoring futility included the second half of a 20-14 win over Laguna

Beach and continued in a 9-0 setback to Corona del Mar.

The Eagles (5-3) figure to have to earn their points against a 7-1

Montclair Prep unit ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division XII.

“I wish (the Mounties) were La Quinta or Brethren Christian, but they’re

not,” Perkins said. “It’s a pretty darn good football team.”

Montclair Prep has been better than good for more than a decade, having

played in four CIF title games since 1995, including championships in

1990 (Division X), ’92 (Division IX) and ’94 (Division X) under current

head man George Giannini.

The Van Nuys-based co-ed private school has barely as many students as

points scored (317) this fall, in which the only sport it fields is

football.

The Mounties’ only loss was a 30-22 setback to Paraclete, ranked No. 7 in

Division XII. They defeated Kilpatrick, ranked No. 6 in Division XII,

43-42, in Week 4.

“It’s a big game and we need to win,” said Perkins, who believes a sixth

victory would enhance the Eagles’ pursuit of an at-large playoff spot,

should they not clinch a guaranteed berth by defeating University in the

Nov. 11 PCL finale.

The Eagles will face this week’s challenge without two-way starter Andy

Romo. The receiver-outside linebacker strained a knee against CdM and

will take this week off in hopes of returning at full strength against

Uni.

“In that sense, it’s good our nonleague game came this week,” Perkins

said. “And I think it’s also a chance to mentally regroup.”

John Alderete and Freddy Rodriguez will take over for Romo on offense,

while Matt Colby, a 5-foot-9, 155-pound sophomore, assumes Romo’s spot on

defense.

Estancia will be led by senior two-way standout Marshall Hendricks, who

has rushed for 1,180 yards, amassed 1,499 all-purpose yards, scored 14

touchdowns and collected seven interceptions.

Seniors Kyle Westman, a two-way starter on the line, and Matt Mueller, a

fullback and middle linebacker, are other keys for Estancia, making a run

at its first postseason appearance since 1995.

Josh Veach, Cesar Romero and Sean Freeman are additional two-way starters

for Estancia.

The Eagles have a plus-11 turnover ratio, but turned the ball over four

times to help seal their fate against Corona del Mar.

Montclair Prep, which has no league affiliation, will be keyed by senior

tailback Jerome Dennis, senior defensive back Ronald Adams and 6-4,

300-pound junior defensive tackle Delroy Parke.

Dennis has rushed for approximately 1,000 yards, according to Giannini,

who said Adams is a Division I prospect who could land at Colorado State.

It’s just Estancia’s second regular-season contest against a team outside

Orange County (it lost to Vista in 1973). Including the playoffs, the

Eagles are 2-5 against noncounty competition.