Football: Santiago edges Estancia

There seemed to be so many instances when Estancia High’s football team could’ve made a play or avoided a mistake that most likely would have changed the game’s outcome. But it wasn’t so much about what the Eagles did or did not do.

This was more about what Santiago did.

The Cavaliers came up in the clutch with a game-winning touchdown with 52 seconds remaining that left Estancia stunned and out of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs. Santiago made the plays that made the difference to win the first-round game, 13-9, at Jim Scott Stadium Friday night.

Quarterback Ulysses Cruz pushed away a defender to prevent a sack and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dominick Smith with 52 seconds left. Junior Ortega sealed the win on the Eagles’ ensuing possession with his second interception of the game.

His first interception also proved to be huge. He took it back 46 yards for a touchdown with 25 seconds left in the first half to make it, 6-6. Santiago had missed two field goals prior to Ortega’s big pick-six.

“They came out and played hard,” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said. “We didn’t. We played sloppy.”

In addition to Santiago’s pick-six, the Eagles (8-3) also suffered to change the game when their fake punt went awry. Santiago (8-3) read it and stuffed Estancia on fourth-and-two from its own 49-yard-line with just under five minutes to play.

That set up Santiago’s game-winning drive.

The Cavaliers also completed a third-and-23 pass play on that drive before Cruz stepped up with the huge TD pass.

“Those are momentum killers,” Bargas said of the pick-six and the failed fake punt. “We had an off night and it showed. We had some opportunities and didn’t capitalize on them. We just looked sloppy. You can’t do that. You call it a season.”

The Eagles, the Orange Coast League champions, were without senior team captain Ronnie Urquiza (concussion), but they did come out strong, forcing Santiago to punt after a three-and-out.

Estancia then scored on its first drive, as quarterback Connor Brown hit Dalton O’Daly for a 15-yard touchdown.

The Eagles defense played strong during most of the game, Bargas said.

The offense proved to be opportunistic after Ortega’s pick-six. The Eagles drove for a 37-yard field goal by Christopher Moya. Dylan Laurent, Estancia’s sophomore sensation, helped on that drive with a 38-yard reception.

The Eagles were also aided by a pass interference penalty as time expired in the first half.