Young Eagles aim to build off last year

On photo day, Mike Bargas is smiling.

The face turns serious after the camera shuts off. He looks around and what he sees is a challenge.

“We have a lot of unproven guys,” said Bargas as his Eagles try to improve on his first year.

It ended at 5-6, with a share of the Orange Coast League title, the school’s first crown since 1989, and a first-round exit in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs.

To improve on it, the Eagles will have to gain experience fast.

“We’re going to have to play some sophomores. They’re good kids,” Bargas said. “I think the future is bright for us, but it is tough coming out playing varsity football in any league as a sophomore.”

Here’s a position-by-position look at the Eagles, who start the season at Aquinas of San Bernardino on Friday at 7 p.m.

Quarterback: Estancia has last year’s starter back. Radames Gutierrez still had to earn the job even after helping the Eagles reach the playoffs.

The senior signal-caller still had to beat out junior Alek Kirshner, who Bargas described as more cerebral.

“He’s a senior. He’s had a half a season and a playoff [game] in him,” said Bargas of Gutierrez, who threw for 496 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions, and collected second-team, all-league honors. “Hopefully he’ll take command.”

One thing Bargas learned during his first year is to make sure the backup is ready, or backups.

Gutierrez went down with an ankle injury following Mike Morley’s elbow injury.

“We even tried an outside linebacker,” Bargas said. “We’re bringing up a sophomore in Jonathan Diego. I wouldn’t be that afraid of putting him in there as well.”

Running backs: Does Carlos Mendez have another record-breaking season in him?

The 5-foot-7, 162-pounder ran for a school-best 1,584 yards as a junior. Not too bad for a player missing his sophomore season due to being academically ineligible.

“I never expected to break records,” said Mendez, the league’s Co-MVP. “I think I was a surprise. I think [opponents are] going to be ready for me.”

The workload might not be as high as last year’s 283 carries.

Bargas plans on Mendez giving up carries to juniors Alan Gutierrez and Alex Avalos, a transfer from McLane of Fresno.

“I think we were a little too predictable as we got toward the end of the season,” Bargas said. “We’re going to utilize some other people and keep people kind of guessing.”

With Mendez, the fullback will mostly block. Senior Brian Linaris and sophomore George De La Torre are battling.

Receivers: The main-go-to guy on a thin receiving corps is senior Jason Moreno.

Moreno only caught 19 passes for 145 yards last season.

The offense will ask more out of him. Ryan Redding and Eddie Tomasek, the leading receivers from a year ago, have graduated.

Avalos will start on the opposite side.

Sophomore Matt Carlisle will see action as well.

Tight end: One player who Bargas feels could’ve made more of an impact in the passing game was Eli Diego.

Estancia never threw much to one of its tallest players. He was hard to miss at 6-3.

“You can’t ignore him,” said Bargas of Diego, who caught five passes for 71 yards last season. “If you got a 5-7 defensive back against a guy who’s 6-3, that’s something that [gives us an advantage]. He’s going to be a target for us.”

When the team goes to double tight ends, sophomore Omar Gutierrez will step in.

Offensive line: For the new linemen, Bargas understands if they’re uneasy heading into the season.

They’re all first-time starters.

“I was scared, nervous, a wreck,” Bargas said when he started at Newport Harbor for the first time. “It was a mess.”

It might be again with three standouts, tackles Connor McKendry and Sean Ulrich and center David Lopez, lost to graduation.

Bargas is expecting it to take a few weeks for senior center Stephen Culbertson, junior guards Josh Dominguez, Michael Renteria and McCann Sanford, and senior tackles Freddy Garcia and Jose Padilla to adjust.

Garcia and Padilla played part-time roles last season.

“It’s a huge learning curve,” Bargas said. “We’re opening up with a team that beat us pretty good last year.”

Defensive line: Just like on the offensive side, gone are the big stalwarts who created havoc with their 6-4 frames.

Senior Ryan Longoria moves up from junior varsity and will be a defensive tackle. Diego and Padilla are the ends with Garcia and Renteria battling for nose tackle.

Linebackers: None of the players slated to get time started last season.

In the mix for the starting middle linebacker position are senior Fermin Marquez and De La Torre. At outside linebacker are Linaris and senior Luis Quintana.

Out of the four linebackers, Linaris is the only player with varsity experience. He rotated last season.

Quintana added muscle in the offseason, turning into a 5-7, 172-pound linebacker after playing defensive back in 2007. Fermin is a soccer player.

Secondary: This is where the Eagles bring back the most experience.

Moreno, a first-team all-league member, returns at cornerback along with Gutierrez at strong safety and Kirshner at free safety. Avalos will start at the other cornerback spot.

Kirshner played in the secondary last year before Bargas said he went down with a knee injury in Week 6. Bargas is hoping Kirshner stays healthy. He broke his collarbone as a freshman.

Bargas is also worried about Radames.

“[It’s] a little scary,” said Bargas of Radames starting on both sides of the ball. “He loves to hit. But when your quarterback is playing strong safety, they stick their nose in a lot of plays.”

Special teams: The one word Bargas used to describe this crucial part of the game was “scary.” At least he’s honest.

Diego is the one sure thing. He returns as the kicker and punter.

“When he’s on, he’ll kick the ball 95% of [the time] into the end zone,” Bargas said. “Our return guys are suspect.”

Two players likely to assume these jobs are Avalos and Moreno. Bargas’ reasoning was they’re two of the fastest players on the team.

There were a couple of costly mistakes in the Eagles’ 17-14 regular-season finale loss to Laguna Beach, costing them an outright league title.

They missed a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter and an extra point in the third, all adding up to four points. They make them, the game is tied.

“Absolutely, that stung,” Bargas said.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].