Estancia fades in setback

LAGUNA BEACH — Estancia High football coach Mike Bargas said, ultimately, an outbreak of turnovers left the Eagles’ defense hanging Friday night at Laguna Beach High.

But, into the fourth quarter, it was Estancia that had prodded the Orange Coast League title-contending Breakers to the precipice of defeat, before falling, 24-10.

The Eagles (3-6, 1-2 in league) virtually gave away 10 points in a 44-second span late in the first half to account for all of the first-half scoring.

But, almost as quickly, they rallied to tie by scoring on their first two possessions of the third quarter.

Estancia still clung to its deadlock when junior safety Angel Pacheco scooped up a fumble in the end zone to halt what appeared to be a sure scoring drive for the Breakers with six seconds left in the third period.

But the Breakers (4-5, 3-0), for whom the average starting position of their four scoring possessions was just inside the Estancia 21-yard line, scored a pair of touchdowns in a span of two minutes, 30 seconds, to pull away and set up a league title showdown with Costa Mesa (3-0 in league), Friday night at Estancia High.

The luster on that showdown appeared flawed when the Eagles, playing without standout senior tailback Carlos Mendez, who suffered what Bargas called a strained calf and ankle sprain near the end of the first half, erupted offensively on its first two possessions after intermission.

Alex Abalos, a 5-foot-5 junior who stepped in for Mendez, sped 52 yards around the right side to cap a three-play, 60-yard touchdown drive to get the Eagles on the scoreboard after Laguna Beach went three-and-out to start the second half.

Senior Eli Diego’s conversion kick pulled the upset-minded visitors within 10-7 with 8:54 left in the third quarter.

After the Estancia defense forced another three-and-out, a short Breakers’ punt bounced backward to set up the Eagles at the Laguna 32.

Abalos, who finished with 107 yards on 14 carries, darted up the middle for 25 yards to the Laguna Beach 12. A face-masking penalty on the play made it first-and-goal at the seven.

Laguna Beach stiffened to force a 24-yard field goal by Diego that knotted things with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

An encroachment penalty on the Eagles on third-and-two gave Laguna a gift first down on its ensuing possession, which proceeded to the Eagles’ 1-yard line. But Breakers senior tailback Zach Smith, who amassed 126 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, bobbled the ball while heading toward the goal line on the next snap.

Pacheco scooped the ball in the end zone and tried to return it, but was tackled at the one-yard line.

The Breakers took over after a punt at the Estancia 41 and broke the tie three plays later.

A 36-yard pass from Austin Paxson to Chris Paul put the ball at the five and Smith did the rest on the next snap to give Laguna a 17-0 lead.

Four plays into the ensuing possession, Andrew Paddon collected the second of the hosts’ three interceptions and returned it 44 yards to the Estancia three. One play later, Smith slammed up the middle to finalize the scoring.

Estancia can earn a guaranteed CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoff berth by beating Calvary Chapel Thursday at Orange Coast College.

An interception helped Laguna Beach pad its lead late in the first half, after senior Jeremy Kaplan fell on a fumbled center exchange to set up a four-play, 19-yard TD drive to open the scoring.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Rouzebeh Kazemian picked off an Estancia screen pass at the Eagles’ 20. That led to a 23-yard field goal with 18 ticks remaining.

Mendez returned for one carry late in the game for the Eagles, who recovered two Breakers’ fumbles, but lost the turnover battle, 4-1.

LAGUNA BEACH 24, ESTANCIA 10

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Estancia 0-0-10-0--10

Laguna 0-10-0-14--24 

SECOND QUARTER

LB – Smith 5 run pass (Snedeger kick), 1:02.

LB – Snedeger 23 FG, 0:18.

THIRD QUARTER

Est – Abalos 52 run (Diego kick), 8:54.

Est – Diego 24 FG, 4:01.

FOURTH QUARTER

LB – Smith 5 run (Snedeger kick), 10:30.

LB – Smith 3 run (Snedeger kick), 8:00.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Est – Abalos, 14-107, 1 TD; Mendez, 12-41; R. Gutierrez, 1-9; De La Torre, 1-4; Linares, 2-3; Kirshner, 5-minus 3; team, 1-minus 1.

LB – Smith, 21-126, 3 TDs; Jaffe, 4-19; Snedegar, 2-14; Kaplan, 3-9; Paxson, 5-15, 1 TD; team, 3-minus 15.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Est – Kirshner, 9-25-3, 81.

LB – Paxson, 6-13-0, 96.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Est – Moreno, 4-51; Ramos, 1-15; R. Gutierrez, 2-12; Abalos, 1-3; De La Torre, 1-0.

LB – Paul, 2-45; Jaffe, 2-40; Calladay, 1-9; Snedegar, 1-2.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].