Estancia Saves Shutout by Reloading for Last Stand

NEWPORT BEACH —  Believe it or not, there was some drama on the last play of Estancia’s 31-0 nonleague victory over La Quinta Thursday at Newport Harbor High School.

La Quinta (0-2) reached the Estancia 13 with one second left.

Estancia’s nine-game losing streak was a play away from being officially over but the Eagles (1-1) had been in control since scoring 17 points in the final 3 minutes 47 seconds of the first half.

But it seems that the shutout was also vital.

Estancia’s staff sent in the first-team defense--a unit that had been out of the game since early in the final quarter--for the final play.

La Quinta quarterback Jason Gondringer was sacked on the final play, not getting up until about a minute after the gun sounded.

Bringing the first team back wasn’t a popular plan with La Quinta Coach Fred Valko.

“(Estancia) put its first team back in so we got to pick our quarterback up off the ground,” he said. “I don’t know when 31-0 isn’t enough.”

Estancia Coach John Liebengood said: “The shutout wasn’t that important. What was important was the win. The defensive coordinator (Ben Carpenter) wanted to get the shutout so we got some better people in there.”

Estancia’s defense dominated the game, intercepting two passes, and pressuring Gondringer almost every time he went back to pass. He was tackled six times for losses. La Quinta was held to minus-17 yards in the first half and finished with 30 yards in total offense.

Jeff Perry, a sophomore quarterback, scored on touchdown runs of one and two yards and running back Oscar Lomeli scored from 16 and four yards.