Eagles bounce Bolsa

GARDEN GROVE — The game-winning 28-yard field goal by Estancia High junior John Diego sailed cleanly between the uprights with 33 seconds left at Bolsa Grande High Friday night.

It might have been fitting, though, had it caromed off a portion of the goal post and gone through, since the Eagles’ 16-13 come-from-behind nonleague victory was a continual display of the ability to rebound.

“Our guys persevered,” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said after his team twice overcame deficits and a forgettable first half to even its record at 1-1. “It was a big gut check for us early in the season and to come back is something we should be excited about ... This was big. This could be something for us to build off of the rest of the season, coming back from the Trabuco [Hills] loss and being able to rebound.”

Beyond merely answering scores by the Matadors (0-1), Estancia had to overcome not only its feeble first-half showing, but some of its own miscues in a productive second half.

A nine-play, 76-yard drive that produced the Eagles’ first touchdown included overcoming a holding penalty that created second-and-20.

Then, after moving the chains, the visitors incurred a six-yard sack and an illegal procedure penalty that made it second-and-21.

An eight-yard pass from Alek Kirshner to Matt Carlyle on third-and-six kept the drive alive and, two plays later, the same combination connected for a 32-yard scoring pass. Carlyle headed toward the sideline near the hash mark, pulled up and sprinted through an over-pursuing secondary for the tying score with 6:43 left in the third quarter.

Estancia, which altered three of the five positions on its offensive line at halftime (inserting Michael Renteria and McCanne Sanford and shifting Coleman Brown from right guard to left guard), scored on three of its four possessions after intermission.

The lone hiccup was costly, however, as Bolsa recovered a dropped pitchout on the Estancia 25-yard line and needed just three plays to score to take a 13-6 lead.

The Eagles, as they did seemingly throughout the final two periods, bounced back. Two plays after Kirshner threw a dart to tight end Omar Gutierrez near the sideline for seven yards on third-and-six, backup tailback Sean Davis took a toss around left end and traversed 52 yards for a touchdown.

Davis, who had two carries for four yards this season to that point, cut up field between the hash mark and the sideline and burst through a wall of defenders. He then sidestepped a would-be tackler on his way to paydirt.

Diego’s conversion kick knotted the score with time expired in the third quarter.

After the Estancia defense, which allowed just 76 yards after the Matadors had 168 yards of total offense in the first two quarters, forced a punt five plays after the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles held their fate in their hands.

On the 10th play of the ensuing possession, Renteria scrambled to recover his own tailback’s fumble to bring up fourth-and-one at the Bolsa 15.

Bargas ordered a “freeze count” in which Kirshner would bark cadence to try to draw the defense offsides, only to call timeout if the ploy did not work. It worked like a charm, however, giving the Eagles first-and-goal.

Three plays lost a yard, however, setting up Diego for his first varsity field goal.

“We had a good talk in the locker room [at halftime], with some inspiring stuff,” said Abalos, who had 92 yards on 25 rushing attempts. “We pulled through. That field goal was key and we just never gave up. The O-line stepped it up in the second half, our defense stopped them and we came together as a team.”

Kirshner threw for 111 yards, completing 10 of 15 without an interception, while Carlyle led all receivers with four catches for 61 yards.

Senior Mikhail Lowery led the hosts with 179 rushing yards on 21 carries, including a 74-yard TD sprint to open the scoring.

Bolsa was just three of 10 passing for 31 yards and Estancia’s Brandon Barron and Angel Pacheco each had interceptions.

Estancia 16, Bolsa Grande 13

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Estancia 0-0-13-3--16

Bolsa Grande 0-6-7-0--13

SECOND QUARTER

BG – Lowery 74 run (kick failed), 4:00.

THIRD QUARTER

Est – Carlyle 32 pass from A. Kirshner (kick failed), 6:43.

BG – Chun 1 run (Esparza kick), 1:25.

Est – Davis 52 run (Diego kick), 0:00.

FOURTH QUARTER

Est – Diego 28 FG, 0:33.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Est – Abalos, 25-92; Davis, 3-54, 1 TD; A Kirshner, 6-7.

BG – Lowery, 21-179, 1 TD; Chun, 9-29, 1 TD; Veliz, 3-5; Kim, 2-0.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Est – A. Kirshner, 10-15-0, 111, 1 TD.

BG – Loughmiller, 3-10-2, 31.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Est – Carlyle, 4-61, 1 TD; Calabrese, 3-26; O. Gutierrez, 2-15; G. De La Torre, 1-9.

BG – E. Garcia, 1-15; Esparza, 1-9; Chun, 1-7 .