Eagles fall at Irvine
IRVINE — Estancia High became the 12th Orange Coast League football opponent to play Irvine in nine years on Friday. None of have been able to figure out how to beat the Vaqueros.
Irvine stayed perfect against the Orange Coast League, beating the Eagles, 27-17, at home.
For a moment in the third quarter, Estancia was in position to take the lead against the Vaqueros for the second time in the game. They were unable to finish the drive with a touchdown, opting for a 31-yard field goal by Tony Hernandez to cut Irvine’s lead to 13-10 with less than five minutes left in the third quarter.
Before the third quarter ended, the Vaqueros wound up finding the end zone twice and Brent Miller was involved each time. The junior rushed for a 12-yard touchdown and returned a blocked punt four yards for a touchdown.
The special teams’ touchdown marked the second in the third quarter for the Vaqueros. The first one put Irvine ahead for the first time. Jonathan Garcia returned a punt 28 yards for a touchdown, giving Irvine a 13-7 lead with a little more than two minutes into the second half.
The score was Garcia’s second on the night, proving more than enough to hand Estancia (1-2) its second straight setback. The Eagles also lost two key players to injuries. Coach Mike Bargas said Jason Jones, a left tackle and defensive end, hurt his hand in the first quarter, and running back Jordan Balcazar dislocated a shoulder in the final quarter.
“That’s a tough one,” Bargas said of losing Balcazar, who rushed 26 times for 116 yards and one touchdown against Irvine. “It was a freak [injury]. He said he was trying to recover [a] fumble and someone landed on his right shoulder. Hopefully he’s ready when we get to [Orange Coast League play]. That’s three weeks away.”
Two nonleague contests remain before the Eagles open their league title defense on Oct. 9. They’re at home next week against University, another Pacific Coast League team.
Estancia hasn’t done well against teams from that league since 2001, going 3-23. One of those wins came last year at University. The Trojans, who edged an Orange Coast League contender in Calvary Chapel, 28-27, on Friday, are off to a 3-0 start.
For Estancia to beat University for a second straight time, it will have to cut down on the turnovers. The Eagles lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions at Irvine (2-1).
The first half featured a combined four interceptions, two turnovers on downs and one fumble. The first turnover came with less than two minutes into the game, when Estancia defensive back Trevor Brown picked off a tipped pass on Irvine’s 31. Brown returned it seven yards to the 24.
The Eagles ran five straight times, four went to Balcazar. His fourth run was the shortest and the one-yard touchdown run helped put Estancia up, 7-0, with 8:50 left in the opening quarter.
Almost two minutes later, it was Estancia’s turn to give the ball away. Miller, playing in the secondary, dove and beat the intended receiver to the ball, snagging an interception inside Estancia’s 40-yard line. The Vaqueros wound up turning the ball over on downs on the 29 with 3½ minutes to go in the first quarter.
Estancia gave the ball right back. Quarterback Connor Brown’s toss to the left to Balcazar was too high for Balcazar to handle and the ball fell on the turf, where Miller pounced on it for Irvine.
The first quarter ended with another turnover. Alejandro Mondragon, an Estancia linebacker, picked off a pass near midfield. The Eagles opened the second quarter in Irvine territory, and they reached the three. Balcazar rushed four times for 29 yards and caught one pass for 12 yards, and he even threw a halfback pass that Irvine linebacker Austin Hwang almost intercepted.
After Balcazar’s grab put the offense on Irvine’s three, the Eagles called a timeout. They decided to go for it on fourth-and-one, running a bootleg for Brown, but defensive end Luke Coleman didn’t bite. Coleman stopped the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Brown at the line of scrimmage and Irvine took over on downs.
The Vaqueros got out of their own end, eventually punting from their 30-yard line. Trent Colbert’s punt traveled 60 yards, pinning Estancia on its 10-yard line. Two plays later, Irvine defensive back Logan Dory intercepted a tipped pass near the 20, taking it back to the Eagles’ 10 with 3:20 remaining before halftime.
Before the Vaqueros snapped the ball, they called a timeout. The moved worked for the hosts. They ran a toss to Garcia, who ran left and hurdled over defenders into the end zone. Irvine tied it at 7-7.
The second half mostly belonged to Irvine, which scored 20 points in the third quarter. The Vaqueros sacked Brown four times, and they only gave up one passing touchdown, a 33-yard hook up between Brown and wideout Tyler Ross late in the game. The touchdown marked Brown’s first since the fourth quarter of Estancia’s season-opening win on the road against Loara.
“We squandered opportunities,” said Bargas, who saw Brown complete 13 of 30 passes for 169 yards. “We dropped balls. We just put ourselves in a bad position.”
—
Irvine 27, Estancia 17
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Estancia 7 – 0 – 3 – 7 — 17
Irvine 0 – 7 – 20 – 0 — 27
FIRST QUARTER
Est – Balcazar (Hernandez kick), 8:50.
SECOND QUARTER
Irv – Garcia 10 run (Colbert kick), 3:13.
THIRD QUARTER
Irv – Garcia 28 punt return (run failed), 9:48.
Est – Hernandez 31 FG, 4:56.
Irv – Miller 12 run (Colbert kick), 3:11.
Irv – Miller 4 punt block return (Colbert kick), 1:51.
FOURTH QUARTER
Est – Ross 33 pass from Brown (Hernandez kick), 2:15.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Est – Balcazar, 26-116, 1 TD.
Irv – Miller, 11-45, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
Est – Brown, 13-30-2, 169, 1 TD.
Irv – Carter, 8-14-2, 93.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
Est – Sanchez, 3-54.
Irv – Garcia, 5-29.
