Estancia plans to bounce back

For the first time under his watch at Estancia High, Coach Mike Bargas is letting someone else call the offensive plays for the football team. It took 10 years for Bargas to give up the play-calling duties to Lance Chavez.

Picking Chavez makes sense to Bargas as the two have a long history. Bargas coached Chavez as an assistant at Newport Harbor in the late 1990s, and in the next decade, the two coached together at the school for a couple of years. When Bargas left Newport Harbor after the 2006 season to take over at Estancia, Bargas brought Chavez with him.

Even though the two have known each other for 20 years, how Bargas feels about the transition might surprise fans.

“Nervous, scared, apprehensive,” Bargas said when asked about handing over the play-calling reigns to Chavez. “But I think he’ll do a good job. Lance has been with me for a long time. He came with me from the get-go. I knew he always had aspirations to do it, so it’s time to divvy up the responsibility. My brother [Chris] has been the defensive coordinator since Dave Holland left [to the post four years ago]. It’s time to let the young guys [call the plays on both sides of the ball]. Plus, it takes a little bit of heat off me, even though I’m coaching both sides of the ball this year.

“We’re keeping basically the same [West Coast] package, but [Chavez is going] to put his wrinkle on things. This allows him to be a little bit more creative. Sometimes it’s good to have some different opinions. Obviously, I’m going to oversee everything, but Lance has been very faithful to me.”

Before Estancia kicks off the season, Chavez got his first chance to run the offense in a scrimmage on Thursday at Jim Scott Stadium. The Eagles faced two defenses — El Modena and Santa Ana — a week before their opener at home on Sept. 1 against Loara.

The offense most likely won’t run into trouble when it sees Loara, which has only prevailed once in its last 21 games. The Eagles have an easy one to start the year, and they’re planning to bounce back from last season, when they went 3-7 overall, their worst record since 2008.

Estancia placed fourth in the Orange Coast League at 2-3 and missed the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs, marking only the second time that has happened with Bargas at the helm. While the Eagles dropped their final two contests, suffering their first setbacks to Godinez and Saddleback in Orange Coast League play, Bargas said last year wasn’t his toughest. The team finished one game back of third-place Saddleback, the league’s final automatic postseason entry.

Nevertheless, seeing the Eagles’ six-year playoff run end left a bad taste in Bargas’ mouth, as well as his quarterback’s, Eric Carrasco. He made his first start as Estancia’s signal caller in the regular-season finale on the road, and he threw two crucial interceptions, one returned 102 yards for a touchdown, in the 17-10 loss to the Roadrunners.

“It hurt us when we got a linebacker hurt and we had to play [starting quarterback] Connor [Brown] at linebacker [during practice that week and he dislocated his non-throwing shoulder]. Then we threw Eric in there. I don’t blame him one bit because it was his first start.”

Every start this year will go to Carrasco, if he’s healthy and capable.

The senior said he’s looking forward to one start the most: the league opener with Saddleback on Oct. 7. The contest is six weeks away, but he hasn’t forgotten about last year’s result.

“I learned how to handle [adversity],” Carrasco said after the loss. “It really helped me to work harder.”

The push for Estancia is to get back to the playoffs. With five starters back on offense, including senior running back Jordan Balcazar, junior left tackle Jay Enciso and senior wide receiver Tyler Ross, and four starters back on defense, including junior linebacker Hunter Mensinger and senior linebacker Kainoa Korionoff, Carrasco believes the Eagles are a Division 12 playoff-caliber team.

Defending league champion Calvary Chapel and Saddleback, ranked No. 9 in the Division 12 preseason poll, join Estancia in the new postseason division. The top three teams in league clinch playoff berths, and if Estancia qualifies, it might have to travel outside Orange County for a game, unlike in years past.

“When I first took the job, I said I didn’t want to go outside of Orange County for preseason, unless we’re flying to Hawaii,” Bargas said with a smile. “I think [traveling far] for the playoffs is great. It will be fun for the kids to play a school in [Riverside County] or out in [Ventura County]. That’s the way the playoffs should be. Overall, [the new playoff format] gives most all the schools an opportunity to go deep in the playoffs. I don’t care where we play, as long as we’re in the playoffs. We’re used to practicing during the playoffs.”

Estancia Eagles

League: Orange Coast

CIF Division: 12

Coach: Mike Bagras (10th year)

Staff: Chris Bargas (defensive coordinator/secondary/special teams), Lance Chavez (offensive coordinator/offensive line), Brian Burgess (running backs), Chris Flores (linebackers), Matt Redding (wide receivers), Greg Normann (secondary), Dorian Navarrete (offensive line), Osvaldo Villafana (defensive line), Michael Ortiz (linebackers), Sean Mangano (special teams), Christine Murtha (trainer)

2015 season: 3-7, 2-3 in Orange Coast League (fourth place)

Offensive scheme: West Coast

Defensive scheme: 4-3

Returning offensive starters: Five

Returning defensive starters: Four

Returning with honors: None

SCHEDULE

September

1 – Loara

9 – vs. El Dorado at Valencia

16 – Irvine

23 – at University

30 – vs. Sunny Hills at Buena Park

October

7 – Saddleback*

13 – vs. Calvary Chapel* at Jim Scott Stadium

21 – Costa Mesa*

27 – Laguna Beach*

November

4 – vs. Godinez at Santa Ana Valley*

*denotes league game

All home games at Jim Scott Stadium

All games 7 p.m., unless noted