Estancia wiped out against West Ranch

COSTA MESA — The line of red jerseys weaved its way up and out of the stadium.

Hardly a word was muttered along the way. And, as the Estancia High football team awaited the bus that would take the Eagles back to school, not a word was said among the players. Everything that needed to be said had already been told on the field.

West Ranch, a school in its first season with a varsity football team, came down from Santa Clarita, broke through tackles, busted up blocks and ran its way to a 32-7 nonleague victory at Orange Coast College Friday to snap the Eagles’ three-game winning streak.

Estancia (5-2) never meets after games, instead the team waits until arriving at school to discuss the game. Even behind closed doors, what the Eagles get from Coach Brian Barnes could not be much worse than they got on the field.

“I guess I’ll find out when I get there,” Barnes said of what he will tell his team. “We didn’t come to play. We still need to learn how to win.”

There were many spots in the game that could have served as breaking points for the Eagles.

Senior running back Rafael Alejandre ran the ball 10 times for 48 yards on the Eagles’ first two drives before injuring his shoulder. He missed two series on offense, in which the Eagles ran the ball seven times for 16 yards, before returning. But Alejandre would not be the same, running the ball 10 times for 34 yards.

“I took a good pop,” the 5-foot-9, 185-pound running back said.

Despite pushing to the Wildcats’ 26-yard line in the first two drives before failing on fourth down, Estancia remained in the game which was scoreless through the first quarter. While the offense couldn’t finish 12- and seven-play drives, the defense held firm.

And, then it started to rain and the tackling deteriorated.

“I don’t know if it was the rain,” Barnes said. “We both had to play in it though.”

The Wildcats responded to the worsened weather conditions with an eight-play, 40-yard drive, completely on the ground to take a 6-0 lead.

Estancia responded as Mike Morley hit Eddie Tomasek in double coverage on a post pattern for 36 yards setting up a three-yard touchdown run by Morley. With 46 seconds remaining the half, the Eagles led, 7-6.

On the Wildcats first play from scrimmage, Ross Bacon took a pitch and sped up the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown.

“It’s a simple game,” Barnes said. “It’s just blocking and tackling. We didn’t do either tonight.”

Blocking took center stage in the second half as the Eagles gave up three sacks on eight passing attempts along with three holding penalties.

“We couldn’t do anything tonight,” junior quarterback Mike Morley said.

The Wildcats did not attempt a single pass in the second half and scored their final two touchdowns on a 26-yard run and 55-yard punt return.

“We weren’t doing what we were supposed to do,” Alejandre said. “It’s not that they were a good team, we just didn’t play to our ability. It’s time to work on a lot of things.”

The Eagles have a bye week before beginning the three-game Orange Coast League season with a game against cross-town rival Costa Mesa.

As the team watched as the bus slowly pulled up to take them away, Morley broke the silence.

“We’re ready to beat up on Costa Mesa,” he shouted. “That’s all I can say. That’s a guarantee.”