Eagles’ season ends
COSTA MESA — At the start of the biggest football game in Estancia High’s history, the scoreboard showed the wrong team playing at home Friday.
Not much went right on the scoreboard and on the field for the Eagles.
In their first appearance in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section playoffs, the Eagles did not look ready for this stage. The visiting team, Beckman, had been here the year before and it showed.
Heading into this year, Estancia’s last postseason win was 31 years ago. Not many picked Estancia to reach this round before the season.
For the Patriots, the expectations were high. They were favorites to return to their second straight Southern Division finale.
The top-seeded Patriots are heading back to the big dance after routing fourth-seeded Estancia, 57-21, at Jim Scott Stadium.
The section title game next week will feature two Pacific Coast League teams. Beckman (11-2), the Pacific Coast League champion, faces second-seeded CdM (11-2), the league runner-up.
At one point, the Eagles (10-3) appeared they might have a say in which team was playing at Orange Coast College for the section crown. Orange Coast League champion Estancia led twice, 3-0, at the start of the first quarter, and, 10-7, at the start of the second quarter.
Then in the final 11 minutes, 22 seconds of the first half, the Patriots rolled up 29 points. Beckman took a 36-13 lead, and by halftime, Estancia gave up the most points it had allowed in a game this season.
“It did [get away from us],” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said of the second quarter.
“We hung with them as long as we could. We had a couple of bad turnovers and they broke through [by scoring two touchdowns off them in the second quarter].”
How the Patriots blew the game open was a surprise.
The game plan wasn’t to beat the Eagles through the air, but quarterback Cameron Biedgoly did just that. He used his legs, scrambling to buy time and his receivers moved downfield, alone for the most part.
Biedgoly completed touchdown passes of 64 and 79 yards in less than a five-minute span in the second quarter. The way No. 19 threw the ball, he looked like Johnny Unitas in that all-white uniform.
“We didn’t get any heat [on him],” said Bargas, who saw Biedgoly throw for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and rush for a touchdown.
The Patriots tend to pound their way to wins. And with a big lead, Beckman unleashed its double-wing attack to secure its 10th straight victory.
Jeff Kim and Brian Brooks finished with 116 yards and 142 yards, respectively, and each running back scored a touchdown for Beckman.
The most exciting runs were turned in by one of the largest players on the field. Adam Wooley, a 6-foot, 275-pounder, usually plays nose guard, but Beckman lined him up at fullback.
Wooley rumbled for 71 yards and two touchdowns on four carries. The longest touchdown run was from 44 yards out in the fourth quarter. The game was already out of reach, as Beckman went ahead by 30 points.
The second game between Estancia and Beckman wasn’t as close at the first one on the same field on Oct. 6. Back then, Beckman won, 12-10, but it played without Kim.
With Kim, the Patriots amassed 328 yards rushing and five rushing touchdowns, more than keeping up with the Eagles’ one-man show on the ground. Robert Murtha finished with 221 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries.
Murtha’s score came a little more than two minutes into the final quarter. He leaped over the line from one yard out. The number of yards Murtha gained was impressive, especially since it was against a stout Beckman program.
Going into Friday night, the Patriots had played five teams reaching the semifinals of the playoffs in their respective divisions. One of those teams was Estancia.
“We were on a seven-week [winning] streak and it started after them and [the streak] ended with them,” said Bargas, who was still proud of his team, which became the first at Estancia to qualify for the semifinals, win back-to-back playoff games, and produce two straight undefeated league championship seasons.
“We did a lot of good things this year. Beckman’s the superior football team.”
Twitter: @DCPenaloza
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CIF Southern Section Southern Division
Semifinal
Beckman 57, Estancia 21
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Beckman 7 – 29 – 8 – 13 – 57
Estancia 3 – 10 – 0 – 8 – 21
FIRST QUARTER
E – Cabrera 44 FG, 5:54.
B – Biedgoly 1 run (Molina kick), 3:30.
SECOND QUARTER
E – Vasquez 19 pass from Wilson, 5:54.
B – Molina 64 pass from Biedgoly (Molina kick), 11:22.
B – Kaprielian 79 pass from Biedgoly (Molina kick), 6:37.
B – Kim 7 run (Molina kick), 4:30.
E – Cabrera 30 FG, 1:47.
B – Wooley 2 run (Kim run), 0:12.
THIRD QUARTER
B – Brooks 23 pass from Biedgoly (Brooks run), 3:49.
FOURTH QUARTER
E – Murtha 1 run (Vasquez pass from Wilson), 9:53.
B – Wooley 44 run (Molina kick), 7:33.
B – Brooks 63 run (kick failed), 3:51.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
B – Brooks, 10-142, 1 TD.
E – Murtha, 30-221, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
B – Biedgoly, 5-9-0, 200, 3 TDs.
E – Wilson, 6-15-1, 70, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
B – Kaprielian, 3-109, 1 TD.
E – Beck, 3-47.