Estancia denied against Ocean View

Looking to pump life into his Estancia High football team before Orange Coast League play, Coach Mike Bargas decided to gamble late. The Eagles had dropped their last three games, and there they were at home Thursday night, three yards away from beating Ocean View.

Quarterback Connor Brown’s 12-yard touchdown pass to his brother, Trevor, cut Ocean View’s lead to one point with 43 seconds left. The Browns hooked up for a second time at the end of a half, but this time Bargas kept his offense on the field for a two-point conversion try.

The Eagles were going for the win, not settling for a tie at Jim Scott Stadium. A false start in the backfield pushed Estancia to the eight, and Bargas sent out his kicker, Tony Hernandez, only to order him back to the sideline after an Ocean View timeout.

Bargas rolled the dice. The Eagles went for two and Ocean View denied them. Marcus Flum picked off Brown’s pass and the Seahawks hung on for a 14-13 nonleague win.

Ocean View (3-2) prevailed for the third straight time, while Estancia lost its fourth in a row.

“That penalty did put us out of the position right there [to go for two],” Bargas said. “[Fullback DJ Davis] got caught [for a false start penalty]. We told him to freeze, and I’ll call a timeout. It’s the jitters of the game.

“At that point in time [after Ocean View called a timeout], it’s like, you know, let’s see if we can make this thing happen right there.”

The call, a play-action pass, didn’t materialize in the Eagles’ favor and they enter league action with their worst losing streak in five years. The play was to either hit wideout Wilmer Sanchez on a post or Davis out in the flat.

There wasn’t enough time for either, as outside linebacker Alejandro Valdez pressured Brown, who before going down threw one up for grabs. The Seahawks came up with the ball, ensuring they ended a three-game losing streak to Estancia.

“It feels good to finally get them,” Ocean View Coach Luis Nunez said. “It’s the last year of our contract [playing the Eagles]. We just couldn’t work something out [because there was] a scheduling conflict. For us, this is a great game for us. They’re one of the better teams in their league. We’re in the same [playoff division, the CIF Southern Section Southern Division]. For us, it’s great to schedule a team like that, just to see where we’re at before we start league.”

The Seahawks head into their Golden West League opener at defending champion Westminster with momentum. The Eagles (1-4) on the other hand are searching for their first win since their season opener, and they’re hurting.

Estancia played without tailback Jordan Balcazar (shoulder) for the second straight week and it didn’t have the services of Tyler Ross (knee), a receiver, free safety and kick returner. Despite missing two key juniors, Estancia kept it close with Ocean View.

Tyler Chacon rushed 17 times for 85 yards, and he had a couple of nice runs and a 15-yard catch during Estancia’s potential game-winning drive. Estancia, which started on its 28 with 5:37 left to play, answered quarterback Blake Meyer’s second rushing touchdown, a two-yard sneak.

The Estancia defense only gave up two touchdowns after it allowed 31 points per game in the previous three weeks.

The start wasn’t ideal for Estancia. Two penalties helped Ocean View on the game’s opening drive. The Eagles kicked the ball out of bounds, putting the Seahawks on their 35-yard line. The visitors moved inside Estancia’s 35-yard line after three runs and a pass. An offside by the Eagles moved the offense to the 34, but Ocean View got closer, to the 10. A bad exchange on the handoff cost the Seahawks five yards. They eventually turned the ball over on downs on the 11, as receiver Xavier Salgado dropped a fourth-down pass in the end zone.

A couple of plays after Davis ripped a 25-yard run, Salgado dropped another ball. Salgado, playing defensive back, was unable to intercept the pass. The Eagles wound up punting two plays later.

Ocean View took over on its 22 and it put together an impressive drive. The offense went 78 yards on 15 plays, moving the chains twice on third down and once on fourth. Meyer converted on fourth-and-one, gaining two yards on a sneak with 10½ minutes left in the first half. Almost two minutes later, Meyer provided the game’s first score. The senior rushed for a 13-yard touchdown run, and Meyer’s extra-point kick gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead.

At this point, with 8:19 left before halftime, Ocean View produced 10 first downs to Estancia’s one. The Eagles quadrupled that amount on their final drive in the first half.

With 34 seconds left, Estancia began on its 40-yard line with no timeouts. The Eagles’ clock management was superb during their six-play drive. Brown, who completed seven of 14 passes for 137 yards, didn’t waste much time. He found his younger brother, Trevor, for an 11-yard gain, his first completion of the game coming with 26 seconds to go. The next play featured an 18-yard run by Chacon, and Brown hurried the offense to the line of scrimmage, spiking the ball with 14 seconds remaining.

Brown had half that time to work with after hitting Chacon with an 11-yard pass to set up the Eagles up on Ocean View’s 20-yard line. Three seconds ran off the clock before Brown spiked the ball again.

There was enough time, four seconds, to run another play. Brown threw a precise pass to Trevor in the corner of the end zone for a 20-yard score as time expired. Hernandez’s extra-point kick evened things up at 7-7, and the Brown brothers gave the Eagles momentum going into the break.

But it wasn’t enough for Estancia to avoid a fourth consecutive setback. The Eagles’ league title defense begins next week against league favorite Calvary Chapel at Jim Scott Stadium.

“We had a couple of glimmers of hope,” Bargas said of beating Ocean View. “Now we got to go into league because there’s no tomorrow.”

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Ocean View 14, Estancia 13

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Ocean View 0 – 7 – 0 – 7 — 14

Estancia 0 – 7 – 0 – 6 — 13

SECOND QUARTER

OV – Meyer 13 run (Meyer kick), 8:19.

E – T. Brown 20 pass from C. Brown (Hernandez kick), :00.

FOURTH QUARTER

OV – Meyer 2 run (Meyer kick), 5:46.

E – T. Brown 12 pass from C. Brown (pass failed), :43.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

OV – Holmes, 16-65.

E – Chacon, 17-85.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

OV – Meyer, 12-17-0, 92.

E – C. Brown, 7-14-0, 137, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

OV – Salgado, 3-39.

E – T. Brown, 3-43, 2 TDs.