Football: Estancia rides O’Daly to victory
Dalton O’Daly loves to ride horses when he’s not playing football, his favorite sport at Estancia High. His family owns three thoroughbreds, a paint horse and one quarter horse. The horses live in stables near Irvine Lake.
O’Daly has been trying to get his football coach, Mike Bargas, to check out the horses in Silverado. So far, Bargas has only seen pictures.
“I have a hard enough time standing on my own two feet, let along trusting a [horse],” Bargas said with a smile.
During the football season, Bargas would rather not see O’Daly ride at all. He’s afraid a horse might buck O’Daly off, and he might lose his starting wide receiver and cornerback to an injury.
You would think there isn’t any time for O’Daly and horses during the fall. Football keeps him busy. He practices four days a week, plays once a week, and the next day he spends it watching film.
Somehow, O’Daly sneaks in time for his quarter horse. He did so last weekend after his best football performance as an Eagle, coming in the team’s 35-10 win at University.
A day after O’Daly intercepted two passes, returning one 80 yards for a touchdown, and caught four passes for 83 yards, one for a 34-yard touchdown, he got away from football and hopped on the horse he calls “Secunda.” The horse is named after a town O’Daly’s mom, Cyndi, once lived in while in South Africa, where her father worked in the coal refinery business.
South Africa is where Cyndi fell in love with horses. When she married Steve O’Daly, they agreed to buy horses someday. They’re up to five now, more than enough for their two sons, Dalton and Konrad. When the two boys aren’t riding, they’re playing football for Estancia.
Dalton said Konrad, a junior, is a better rider, calling him a natural animal person. Bargas said Dalton, a senior, is a natural playmaker on the football field.
The older O’Daly has hauled in a touchdown pass in each of the last three games, and has become the Eagles’ No. 1 target. He emerged as quarterback Connor Brown’s favorite receiver after Devon Jackson went down with an ankle injury in the season opener.
How Jackson suffered the injury on Sept. 4 still makes Bargas shake his head. Jackson landed awkwardly after celebrating a 31-yard touchdown with a chest bump.
“I don’t like any kind of celebration,” Bargas said. “You’re supposed to catch the ball.”
Catch the ball and then give the ball to a referee. That’s how O’Daly goes about his business whenever he finds the end zone.
O’Daly scored twice against University, enabling Estancia to knock off the Trojans for the first time in 17 years. Both scores came late, before halftime and before the end of the nonleague game.
While shorter in distance, the first touchdown proved to be the toughest. On fourth-and-18 and on the opponent’s 34, Brown connected with O’Daly. He moved more than the chains, faking a defender before racing in for the touchdown to give Estancia a 14-3 lead with 49 seconds left in the first half.
Through the first four games of the season, O’Daly is five receptions and 13 yards away from matching last year’s stats (16 catches for 225 yards). He already has three receiving touchdowns, two more than last year.
Jackson is expected back on Friday, when Estancia (2-2), ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll, wraps up nonleague action at Ocean View (3-1) at 7 p.m. With the two receiving threats, Brown will have a tall target in the 6-foot-2 Jackson and a sure handed one in the 5-10 O’Daly.
The contest against Ocean View reminds O’Daly of how far he has come since his first season on varsity two years ago. He played against Ocean View during mop-up time of Estancia’s 45-0 blowout win. When O’Daly made a mistake, his reaction didn’t sit well with Bargas.
“I just had a bad attitude when I fumbled the ball,” said O’Daly, who has matured since his sophomore season.
Bargas now refers to O’Daly as a leader. O’Daly credits Bargas for staying on him, teaching him how to act like a professional. When he doesn’t, O’Daly’s father checks him.
Steve is an assistant coach on the Estancia freshman team, and he’s on the sideline during varsity games. He has a big personality. Seeing both of his kids on the football field is a joy for Steve.
Konrad, a long snapper, linebacker and tight end, turned 16 on Monday. Konrad and Dalton were born 16 months apart.
Not much separates the two. If Dalton and Konrad aren’t on the football field, they’re on a trail riding horses.
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Dalton O’Daly
Born: May 25, 1997
Hometown: Costa Mesa
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 150 pounds
Sport: Football
Year: Senior
Coach: Mike Bargas
Favorite food: Cheeseburger
Favorite movie: “Silverado”
Favorite athletic moment: “Freshman year winning on the last play against University. Kevin [Valencia] forced the running back to fumble and the ball landed in Ronnie [Urquiza’s] arms, and he took it back for a touchdown.”
Week in review: O’Daly intercepted two passes, returning one 80 yards for a touchdown, and caught four passes for 83 yards, one for a 34-yard touchdown, helping Estancia to a 35-10 win at University.