Prep football: Secret weapon sparks Eagles’ rally

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Estancia High quarterback Kenny Valbuena was

keeping a secret when he kept the ball in the closing minutes of the

Eagles’ 17-13 nonleague football victory over visiting Aliso Niguel

Friday night at Newport Harbor High.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior delivered both into the end zone for

the game-winning touchdown with 1:43 left, as his impromptu bootleg, on

the instruction of Coach Dave Perkins, brought the Eagles (2-0) back for

a momentous triumph.

“(Perkins) told me to fake it to Andy (Romo),” Valbuena said of the

crucial carry, which capped a dramatic five-play, 80-yard scoring drive

that dropped the Wolverines to 0-3.

“It was an adjustment. I just took off for the end zone and I made

it.”

Estancia senior guard Cesar Romero said the play surprised the rest of

the Eagle offense, who expected Romo to carry on a sweep around the left

side.

“When I looked up, I thought Andy had fumbled, because I didn’t see

the ball on the left side of the field,” Romero said. “Then, I saw Kenny

stiff-arm (a defender) and we had the touchdown.”

Javy Ramirez, who booted a 24-yard field goal with 9:48 left in the

game to give the Eagles their first lead, converted the PAT and

Estancia’s defense held to spark a wild celebration.

“I can’t tell you how big this one is,” Perkins said. “To beat these

guys, after all those years they beat up on us in the PCL (winning their

last four PCL meetings before Aliso left for the Sea View League last

fall).”

The victory also avenged a 35-0 loss to the Wolverines the Eagle

seniors experienced as freshmen, a PCL setback that cost Estancia a shot

at the league title.

“Our kids played with a lot of heart and never doubted themselves,”

Perkins said. “We saw from watching the film of Aliso’s game with Capo

Valley that they weren’t a second-half team. I talked to our guys not so

nicely at halftime about coming out and establishing ourselves in the

second half.”

Estancia, which failed to cash in two first-half turnovers, did just

that after intermission. They took the second-half kickoff and marched 65

yards on 12 plays, 11 of which were runs, to erase Aliso’s 7-0 lead.

Valbuena capped the march with a 1-yard sneak, after fullback Fahad

Jahid had carried for 31 of his game-high 96 yards behind an inspired

offensive front.

Aliso moved to the Estancia 33 with the ensuing kickoff, but, on

fourth down and less than a foot, Romero got penetration and decked Aliso

tailback Trent Carroll for no gain to give the Eagles possession.

The Eagles, with Valbuena making good decisions in the pocket, drove

12 plays to set up Ramirez’s go-ahead field goal. Valbuena scrambled for

gains of 9 and 15 and also hit tight end David Stoddard for completions

of 11 and 14 yards to sustain the march.

Junior safety Freddy Rodriguez broke up a third down pass with a huge

hit on the ensuing Aliso possession, but an Estancia fumble six plays

into their ensuing possession gave Aliso new life.

The Wolverines took full advantage, when quarterback Bryce Latimer

delivered a throw-back screen to Division I senior tight end prospect

Brandon Alconcel, who got the only block he needed and broke a tackle

inside the 15 en route to a 49-yard touchdown play.

Alconcel, however, was mobbed beyond the end zone, prompting an

illegal celebration flag and the subsequent 35-yard PAT attempt sailed

wide left to keep the score 13-10.

Romo, who rushed for 80 yards on 19 carries, returned the kickoff 12

yards to his own 20, then Valbuena connected with his twin brother, tight

end Danny Valbuena for a 45-yard pickup that pumped confidence into the

Eagles and energized the home crowd.

The Valbuena connection worked again for a 5-yard pickup and Stoddard

caught a Kenny Valbuena dart on second down for 11 yards and a first down

at the Aliso 19.

After Romo swept left for 6 yards, Perkins, during a timeout, called

for the same play. Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, however, he told

Valbuena to keep the ball on a naked bootleg.

Valbuena was accompanied by an Aliso defender on the play, but he

fended him off with his free left arm and outraced the pursuit to the get

inside the pylon with 103 seconds left.

After a squib kickoff, nearly recovered by Estancia, set Aliso up at

its own 36. On first down, quarterback Joel Smith lofted a strike to a

wide open and streaking Don Hawthorne, but the sure touchdown slipped off

the receiver’s fingertips and Estancia collectively exhaled.

“My heart was right up here on that one,” said Perkins, gesturing just

below his chin.

Two completions and a run moved the visitors to the Estancia 37, but

two incompletions, a flat pass nailed for a 3-yard loss by end David

Rodriguez, and a desperation fourth-down incompletion gave the Eagles the

ball, needing only one play to run out the clock.

Kenny Valbuena finished 8 of 12 for 125 passing yards, and also rushed

11 times for 58 yards, including two sacks.

Danny Valbuena had three receptions for 57 yards and fellow tight end

Stoddard had three catches for 49 more.

Defensively, Romero’s big plays included a stripped fumble he

recovered to thwart an Aliso drive at the Eagles’ 9-yard line, while

senior cornerback Jeremy Valdes intercepted a pass to set up a drive that

failed when Aliso stopped the Eagles on fourth down at the Wolverines’ 2

with 16 seconds left in the half.

The Eagles controlled the ball for all but 6:37 of the second half to

wind up with a near-13-minute edge in time of possession.

“(Perkins) yelled and screamed at us at halftime and he got us up for

the second half,” Kenny Valbuena said.

Estancia’s postgame spirits were dampened by the sideline collapse of

injured lineman Mario Macias, whom one Estancia official said lost

consciousness on the sideline during the third quarter. Macias, in street

clothes for the game, was administered to by paramedics, who transported

him by ambulance to Hoag Hospital.