Estancia remains ‘Redding’ hot, wins, 56-0

COSTA MESA — Two weeks into the football season, Estancia High senior Matt Redding has shown quite a knack for finding the end zone.

His teammates joined in the cause on Friday night.

Redding scored three more touchdowns and the Eagles romped again, 56-0, over Bolsa Grande at Orange Coast College.

The margin of victory is the largest in Estancia history.

Estancia Coach Brian Barnes said he wanted to improve running the football, and the Eagles got four rushing touchdowns to complement four passing touchdowns by junior quarterback Mike Morley.

“Our guys were playing great,” Barnes said. “We were pounding the football. I thought we could have ran it all game. And we had to spread the wealth.”

Danny Orozco scored twice, Redding ran for a score and Rafael Alejandre also found the end zone.

But after the game, Alejandre gave the credit to the offensive linemen, including Sean Ulrich, Alex Machuca, David Lopez, Kristian Carranza and Connor McKendry.

“The key was the linemen,” said Alejandre, who ran for 62 second-half yards and 98 overall. “A lot of people thought it was just luck that we won the first game, but we’re proving that we’re for real and we can come and play.”

Redding, who has scored six touchdowns in the Eagles’ first two games, provided an early boost. On the first play of Estancia’s second possession, a wide-open Redding was found by Morley sprinting down the Eagles’ sideline for an early 6-0 lead.

Two plays later, Estancia free safety Julio Medero intercepted Bolsa Grande quarterback Riley Wardel near midfield and returned it to the four-yard line.

Redding then took Morley’s pitch and cut outside for another touchdown, and the score was 13-0 after Diego Carrasco’s extra point.

On Bolsa’s very next possession, a big hit by Redding on Matador back Xavier Mitchell caused a fumble, recovered by the Eagles’ Orozco.

Three plays later, Redding caught a lofted pass from Morley in the back corner of the end zone, making it a three-touchdown advantage.

“We felt that Matt could be that standout guy, and he has been that so far,” Barnes said. “He has put on 25 pounds of muscle since last year, and at our level, that’s a stud.”

From that point, Bolsa seemed resigned to its fate, content to try to run the ball — the Matadors only attempted five passes all game and completed none.

But Estancia wasn’t done, and receiver Eddie Tomasek provided the heroics on the Eagles’ next possession. On fourth-and-18 at the Bolsa 22, Barnes decided to go for it.

Tomasek, lined up in the slot, saw Morley’s pass come toward the shoulder pad of Matadors cornerback Marcos Esquivel.

In one fluid motion, Tomasek grabbed the ball off Esquivel and sprinted into the end zone, giving Estancia a 28-0 lead.

“I’ve got to give credit to my line and the quarterback for a great pass,” Tomasek said. “We did a good job on both running and passing tonight, so the defense didn’t know what to expect.

“This feels great,” he added. “Last year, we struggled in the beginning of the season.”

Orozco added a one-yard power touchdown run. Then, on the Eagles’ last possession of the half, Morley found Carrasco on a 45-yard slant up the middle of the field for a touchdown.

It was Morley’s eighth touchdown pass in the first two weeks.

Estancia used the second half mostly to play ball control, going on a nearly five-minute drive early in the third quarter that culminated in Alejandre’s five-yard touchdown run up the middle.

But as Bolsa Grande also tried to run, the Estancia defense toughened even more. Rushing on every second-half play but three, the Matadors (0-1) gained just 48 yards — half of those coming on Carl De La Riva’s 24-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.