Eagles flat in loss to Pacifica

After a scoreless first quarter, Estancia High football coach Mike Bargas was impressed with the way his team was performing during Friday night’s nonleague game against Pacifica.

“We looked good,” Bargas said. “It was a really tight game, and then we hiccuped.”

Pacifica senior quarterback Nick Garcia found sophomore Matt Moslenko on a 38-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter. It was the start of 12 minutes to forget for the Eagles.

Pacifica would score three more touchdowns in the quarter to take a commanding 28-point halftime lead. The Mariners were on their way to their second blowout win over the Eagles in as many years, 38-8, at Jim Scott Stadium.

Estancia (1-1), ranked No. 8 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, had various miscues in the second quarter against Pacifica (2-0). The visitors took a two-touchdown lead when Garcia hit senior Aundre Purnell on a 27-yard pass over the middle.

Then, a “hiccup.” Estancia couldn’t handle the ensuing pooch kick and Pacifica recovered at the Eagles’ 35-yard line. Four plays later, senior running back Marcus Tolbert found the end zone from four yards out.

“The first quarter, it was 0-0,” Bargas said. “Then all of a sudden, the seven [point deficit] turned into 14, which turned into 21. We saw them play Bellflower last week, and it was 49-6 at the half. I felt really good in the first quarter, and then all of a sudden, on special teams we had a breakdown. We just had a lot of little breakdowns that we usually don’t have.”

Estancia senior quarterback Connor Brown would try to bring the Eagles back. He completed a 36-yard pass to junior Tyler Ross to the Pacifica 23-yard line. Then, two nice runs by junior Jordan Balcazar brought Estancia to the Pacifica three-yard line.

But the Eagles could not convert the first-and-goal situation late in the half. After a three-yard loss on a running play, two incomplete passes brought up fourth-and-goal. Brown’s pass was deflected and intercepted by Pacifica’s Cooper Way.

The Mariners added their fourth touchdown on a 16-yard run by Garcia, who controlled the game all night with the option play. He had 15 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns, also passing for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Tolbert, who did not have a carry in the second half, had 13 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown in the first half. The Pacifica offensive line of Nick Gutierrez, Ruben Valdez, Danny Benavides, Joey Gallo and Martin Barcenas was able to control the line of scrimmage.

Pacifica, under first-year head coach Vinnie Lopez, has now matched its win total from each of the last two years, when the Mariners went 2-8 each year.

“In every game we want to be able to establish the run,” Lopez said. “I thought [Estancia] did a really good job. I thought they played really well tonight in stuffing it up a little bit, I just think our guys are bigger and started to wear them down as the game went on. You know, they’ve got a lot of guys going both ways, and I think that attributed to some of the success we had.”

The game was played with a running clock in the fourth quarter. The Eagles were finally able to put up points with 4:52 left in the game, on a three-yard touchdown run by senior fullback D.J. Davis.

Balcazar did not play after the first play of the second half, when Bargas said he was experiencing back spasms.

The road will stay tough for Estancia with a pair of Pacific Coast League teams next up on the schedule. The Eagles play at Irvine on Sept. 18 and play host to University on Sept. 25.

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Pacifica 38, Estancia 8

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Pac 0 – 28 – 7 – 3 — 38

Est 0 – 0 – 0 – 8 — 8

SECOND QUARTER

Pac – Moslenko 38 pass from Garcia (Bell kick), 11:52.

Pac – Purnell 27 pass from Garcia (Bell kick), 7:51.

Pac – Tolbert 4 run (Bell kick), 6:35.

Pac – Garcia 16 run (Bell kick), 1:00.

THIRD QUARTER

Pac – Garcia 2 run (Bell kick), 7:14.

FOURTH QUARTER

Pac – Bell 28 FG, 9:26.

Est – Davis 3 run (Brown run), 4:52.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Pac – Garcia, 15-114, 2 TDs; Tolbert, 13-99, 1 TD.

Est – Balcazar, 14-42.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Pac – Garcia, 15-23-0, 187, 2 TDs.

Est – Brown, 5-16-1, 101.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Pac – Moslenko, 5-80, 1 TD.

Est – T. Brown, 1-44.