TWO-MINUTE DRILL

For the first time in 11 years, Estancia High defeated a football team from the Pacific Coast League. And it was a big victory against a ranked team from the CIF Southern Section Southern Division.

The then-No. 10-ranked Eagles upset then-No. 3 Northwood, 43-27, at Jim Scott Stadium on Thursday night, ending a 15-game losing streak to teams from the Pacific Coast League.

“Everybody thought we were going to lose this game, except for us,” said Bargas, whose Eagles (3-1) are now No. 6 in the poll. “This is a big game for us because it gets us a little bit of respect from the Pacific Coast League teams.

“It’s just good to get back on the winning track.”

The Eagles bounced back from a 30-22 home loss on Sept. 23 to University, a Pacific Coast League team. That setback had dropped the Eagles from No. 5 to No. 10 in the poll.

Costa Mesa High perhaps showed a glimpse of its future in Friday’ 61-0 blowout win over La Quinta.

After Mustangs’ senior Mario Smith had three long touchdown runs in the first half, his junior brother, Justin, was inserted at running back to begin the third quarter.

Justin Smith had eight straight runs on the drive for 78 yards. He scored on a one-yard touchdown run to cap the march, which lasted more than six minutes.

Coach Wally Grant said the younger Smith could be “the guy” next year. He also helped the Mustangs defensively Friday, blocking a punt that teammate Oscar Reyes recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete,” Grant said. “My job as a coach is to somehow get both those gentlemen in the backfield and turn them loose.”

Mario Smith said he was impressed as well with Justin, before offering a bit of brotherly advice.

“He’s a tough runner,” Mario Smith said. “He just needs to work on his jukes. He needs to stop juking as much and listen to the coaches, and he’ll be really good.”

According to the Corona del Mar High game program, senior quarterback Brent Lawson’s five touchdown passes in the Sea Kings’ 48-6 nonleague win over Magnolia Friday tied the school single-game record set by Dave Terry in 1968.

Lawson was 11 of 16 passing for 222 yards and all but one of his completions went for at least 10 yards. The lone exception was a four-yard touchdown pass that capped his evening with 7:26 left in the second quarter.

Four games into the season, Newport Harbor hasn’t played a cupcake schedule.

The Sailors (1-3) traveled to San Clemente and battled before losing, 24-12, Friday.

Newport Harbor’s first four opponents have a combined record of 17-3. Three of them are currently ranked, San Clemente (5-0) is No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division, Los Angeles Loyola (4-1) is No. 7 in the Pac-5 and Corona del Mar (4-1) is No. 1 in the Southern Division.

Next up for the Sailors is their final nonleague game and it comes at home against a 1-3 team, Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach.

“We’re still figuring this thing out,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “We’ve got another week to get better and then we start [Sunset League], which is our goal to be ready to play at our best.”

The Sunset League opener for the Sailors is at Davidson Field against Fountain Valley on Oct. 14.

Sage Hill’s 57-7 loss Saturday to La Jolla-based The Bishop’s, the defending CIF State Division IV champion, was its worst defeat of the season.

The Lightning (1-3) have lost three straight. The team was without Taylor Petty, a senior quarterback and safety.

Coach J.R. Tolver said he is unsure when Petty will return.

“He’s got something going on with his leg,” Tolver said. “It’s his abductor, so right there by the groin muscle, but he’s a tough kid. He’ll be back as soon as he can.”

The Lightning have another tough team Friday, when they travel to Pasadena for a 4 p.m. nonleague game against Poly (3-1), ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division.

The last time Sage Hill met a team from the Northeast Division, it lost at Mojave, 36-0, on Sept. 16.

Estancia’s win showed Bargas that his Orange Coast League team can compete with the Pacific Coast League, which saw three of its teams — Northwood, Corona del Mar and Beckman — reach the semifinals of the playoffs last year.

The Eagles have been knocked out of the first round by Pacific Coast League teams in each of Bargas’ three postseason appearances at the school.

Next for Estancia is a home date Thursday with one of those teams, No. 2-ranked Beckman (2-2). Last year in the first round, the Patriots traveled to Estancia and won, 56-22. Beckman made it to the division final.

Mario Smith has now run for 818 yards and nine touchdowns through the Mustangs’ first five games.

He has already eclipsed last year’s leading rusher, now-senior quarterback Nathan Alvis (508 yards).

Smith has run for 140-plus yards in each of Mesa’s five games, despite not carrying the ball in the second half of two of them.

CdM honored its 1971 team that finished 7-3 and won the Irvine League title, the program’s first league championship.

Among those introduced at halftime Friday at Newport Harbor High were head coach Dave Holland, assistants Al Calonico and Dick Morris, as well as players John Stebbins, quarterback Reed Johnson, Greg Collins, Joe Tosti, Scott Parker, Greg Stone, Marc Wynne and running back Bob Ferraro.

Among the highlights that season was a 7-0 triumph over Back Bay rival Newport Harbor, CdM’s first win over the Sailors. In that game, Ferraro rushed for 205 yards on 27 carries, including the game-winning touchdown.

Newport Harbor lost key contributors early and late at San Clemente.

Offensive lineman Hamilton Randle left in the second quarter with a leg injury. Landon Gyulay, a wide receiver and cornerback, missed the fourth quarter because of leg cramps.

With Hamilton out, Brinkley moved fullback Grant Frazier to the line. Frazier switched jerseys, going from No. 1 to No. 55, the jersey of lineman Ted Barry, another of the Sailors injured players.

Defensive end Steve Michaelsen said Barry missed his second straight game with a broken fibula.

While Northwood aired it out for 369 yards and three touchdowns passing, Estancia pounded the ball for 340 yards and four touchdowns rushing.

The ground game helped the Eagles control the game and take a 29-7 lead late in the third quarter.

Running back Robert Murtha led the team with 182 yards and he had a 74-yard touchdown run. He exited the game in the third quarter after his 14th carry because of an abdominal strain. Bargas expects the junior to return.

If Murtha cannot go next week, Estancia has a more-than-capable replacement in Alex Trancoso. The senior tailback came in for Murtha when he was hurt and rushed for 120 of his 129 yards in the second half.

Trancoso found the end zone twice, scoring from three yards out in the third quarter and from 31 yards in the fourth quarter.

Costa Mesa picked a good way to go into its bye week. The Mustangs should be well-rested when they play Godinez on Oct. 14 at Jim Scott Stadium.

But to Grant, two blowout wins in the first five games — also counting a 42-7 win over Santiago on Sept. 8 — have been a mixed blessing.

“The downside is that we’ve had two games like this where we’ve only played a half,” Grant said. “You have kids that aren’t playing four quarters of football. When we play the good teams [in league], Godinez, Laguna Beach, Estancia, we’ve got to play four full quarters of football.”

The Mustangs will be trying for their first league title since 2008.

CdM’s lop-sided victory allowed Coach Scott Meyer to empty the bench, which afforded freshmen running backs Cole Martin, Hugh Crance and Barrett Barbato to have a moment in the varsity spotlight.

Martin had a 45-yard run, Crance produced a five-yard touchdown run and Barbato had a 22-yard pickup as the trio combined for seven carries in the fourth quarter.

The win also allowed the Sea Kings to assume the No. 1 ranking in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division.

Newport Harbor quarterback Cole Blower and Gyulay found a rhythm late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter.

Blower completed six straight passes during the stretch, four of them going to Gyulay, his top receiver.

The biggest were touchdown passes of 16 and 23 yards. The second score cut San Clemente’s lead to 17-12 just 89 seconds into the second half.

Eric Cheng scored Sage Hill’s lone touchdown, coming on a 90-yard kickoff return four minutes into the game.

Cheng finished with 163 yards on five kickoff returns and 45 yards on one punt return.

The senior rushed for 40 yards on 10 carries.

Costa Mesa is 4-1 for the first time since 2001.

— From staff reports