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MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: Bargas points to victory No. 1

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For Estancia High, Friday night’s win at Buena Park wasn’t just a break to a two-game losing streak, it was cement.

The 21-16 win solidified Mike Bargas’ place at Estancia (1-2) and the greater football collective could sit back knowing, yes, this guy really does know how to win.

Before Friday’s game, Bargas said he knew that his team would win this season. It was just a matter of when and where.

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Still, Bargas said Friday night, “It’s good to get the monkey off my back.”

He already had JSerra (0-2) in his mind, and it stayed there through the weekend.

“Jim Hardigan’s a great coach, so we’ve got to make sure we do everything right even though they’re coming off two losses,” Bargas said.

There are things that still need tweaking, but Bargas didn’t mind letting his team enjoy the fruits of the hard work they’ve put in.

“We relished victory Friday night,” Bargas said. “We’re still feeling good about ourselves.”

Carlos Mendez propelled much of the offense down the field Friday night, chewing up 211 yards for two touchdowns. But Bargas wants to make sure that the passing game catches up as well. Quarterback Mike Morley was 2-7 for 23 yards, and Bargas is looking for a completion rating closer to 60%.

“He’s a great kid,” Bargas said, referring to Mendez. “He’s very down to earth. Inside, he’s excited, but he doesn’t show a lot of emotion. He’s not a cocky kid. It’s business for him, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Last week, it was special teams that needed work, and Bargas was frustrated. At one point during the Bolsa Grande game, there were too many Eagles on the field (12) and the next time there were too few (10). Those kinks were largely eliminated against Buena Park (0-2).

This week, Bargas is hoping for the same level of improvement on defense and the passing game that he saw in special teams. For two straight weeks, the defense has been hampered by penalties for late hits.

“Sometimes they get so amped up, and they want to be there to make the big hit that they forget the common sense,” Bargas said. “It’s a matter of being overambitious to try to get in there and make a play.”

If the late hits can be eliminated, an already effective defense will get just a little bit stingier.

“It was great to come off the field and not feel frustrated,” Bargas said. “You can walk off the field satisfied with your He doesn’t complain about anything. He’s one of the strongest guys on the team.”

After Sage Hill quarterback Jamie McGee threw for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns against Tri-City Christian, Lightning coach Pete Anderson found himself at a loss for words.

“There’s not much else you can say besides ‘great job,’” Anderson said. “He might get tired of hearing it, but there’s not much else you can say.”

Anderson was more fawning toward the offensive line, which gave McGee good protection and plenty of time to throw for the third straight week.

Freshman center TJ Danner played the first two games of the season, and sophomore Brendan Killaly was eligible for the first time against Tri-City Christian. While the team’s strength is its large number of veterans, Danner played well for much of the second half at guard against Tri-City Christian. Danner replaced Andrew Irvine, who went down with a deep bone bruise in his lower leg. Irvine should be fine for this week’s game against Webb though, Anderson said.

He stressed the importance of having good receivers, a quarterback that can throw, and a good line as keys to an effective passing game.

And while Sage Hill (3-0) has had several impressive quarters, Anderson is look for an entire game where the team never lets up.

“It’s pretty rare for a team to put together a rock solid game from beginning to end, and I would say we’re definitely getting closer to that,” Anderson said. “We’ve had some great quarters and some great halves, but I don’t think we’ve had all four quarters when we’ve played our best. We’re getting closer.”

After a 27-7 loss to Troy Friday night, Corona del Mar coach Dick Freeman was sure one thing had to change: the dropped passes.

Freeman estimated the Sea King receiving corps missed at least eight catchable balls Friday night, and to have a shot at keeping the bell this week, it’s going to have to generate some stickier fingers. Corona del Mar faces Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay Thursday.

“We need to be able to catch the football,” Freeman said. “We dropped eight passes, we tipped a couple more. Ten of the passes we had should have been catches.”

The Sea Kings also need to be able to convert long drives into scores. After moving the ball 79 yards, CdM missed a field goal.

“When you get down that close, you’d like to put some points on the board,” Freeman said. “It was nice being able to drive the football, but it would have been nicer to score.”

When Newport Harbor coach Jeff Brinkley signed a two-year contract for the Sailors to play Long Beach Poly, part of the thinking behind playing the powerhouse team was to use them as a measuring stick.

The measurements are in, and what Brinkley found didn’t surprise him.

“The players certainly saw a team that has the most team speed in that division,” Brinkley said after the 34-7 loss. “It will help us play much faster for the rest of the year. We probably won’t play anybody that moves like them, or as physical as them.”

Newport Harbor (1-1) also has to make sure it can convert in the red zone. An illegal formation against Aliso Niguel cost the Sailors a score in the season opener, and a penalty on a holding call against Poly hemmed them up again.

The Sailors were at their own 30-yard line, and a pass by quarterback Andrew McDonald would have put them at the two-yard line, but a holding call prevented them from advancing.

Newport Harbor also had a punt blocked, which Poly ran in for a touchdown, and a field goal attempt was voided because of an offsides penalty.

Still, the game was a huge draw, and Brinkley saw two coaches from his past: Ernie Johnson, his football coach at Cerritos College, and University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido.

Costa Mesa coach Jeremy Osso never thought he’d be in the same boat as the head coach of the Fighting Irish.

But three weeks into the season, both Osso and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis have yet to win a football game. Both had teams that were on the losing end of shutouts, with only a one-point difference.

Notre Dame lost 38-0 to Michigan, while the Mustangs posted a 37-0 defeat to Irvine.

“That’s what I said when I walked into my coaches’ meeting,” Osso said. “At least me and Charlie Weis are on the same page. We’re both 0-3, even though it’s a completely different ballgame. I’m not the first coach that started 0-3 and I’m probably not going to be the last coach to start 0-3.”

Friday, the Mustangs were still missing running back Antwon Byrd — who sat out because of a hip flexor — the only Costa Mesa player who has scored a touchdown all season. After playing a starring role in the season opener against Savanna, Byrd’s hip forced him to sit out all but one quarter against Rancho Alamitos.

“As far as we know, he should be back [today] for light running,” Osso said. “It was hurting him, so he couldn’t practice all last week. We think we’re going to have him back, and we’d like to have him back. He poses a big play threat every time he touches the ball.”

Osso is still hoping that his players don’t lose faith and continue to buy into the system.

“Starting 0-3 is not over by any means,” Osso said. “We still have seven games left. Our first three games were two league champions and a second place team. Hopefully that will make us realize where we need to get to and how hard we need to work to get where we need to get to..”

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