Prep football: Eagles play forgetable finale

Barry Faulkner

FULLERTON - There was no inspired comeback, no goal-line

officiating controversy, not even a discernible turning point. When time

ticked mercifully away on Estancia High’s 49-7 CIF Southern Section

Division IX football playoff-opening loss to host Fullerton Friday night,

all the Eagles had left were memories of a 7-4 season.

And, after 11 games and 13 weeks of practice, all fourth-year coach

Dave Perkins could muster was 14 words to sum it all up.

“They are a better football team than we are and they deserved to

win,” said Perkins, as he hot-footed his way off the field on what had

become a frigid and forgetful finale.

It was, in retrospect, over virtually as quickly as it began for the

first Estancia playoff team since 1995.

The Eagles fumbled on their first play and Fullerton (9-2), which had

scored 21 points in just more than seven minutes in its regular-season

finale, jumped into pounce mode.

Gerren Brantley recovered and, one play later, Ryan Murray bolted 3

yards over left tackle to begin the onslaught.

Brian Garcia’s conversion kick made it 7-0 with only 15 seconds

elapsed and the Indians went on to score on their next four possessions

to claim a 35-7 halftime edge.

Thought time ran out of them in the second quarter, upon taking over

on downs at their own 10 with 22 seconds left, the Indians took the

second-half kickoff 81 yards on eight plays to make it a 35-point edge.

Estancia ran just two plays in the third quarter, the second of which

ended in a lost fumble, courtesy of a huge hit by a Fullerton defender.

Estancia surrendered three turnovers in all, failed on three

fourth-down conversions and punted three times. It’s only touchdown,

which cut the deficit to 21-7 midway through the second quarter, was

created by a pair of gadget plays.

Senior upback David Stoddard caught a short snap in punt formation and

rambled 19 yards on third-and-four to the Fullerton 43-yard line.

Three plays later, Stoddard caught a double-reverse flea-flicker pass

from senior quarterback Kenny Valbuena for a 36-yard score. Javier

Ramirez added the PAT, capping a school single-season team scoring record

of 312 points.

Senior Andy Romo rushed for 47 yards on 11 carries to give him 1,035

yards for the season. He also caught three passes for 57 yards to finish

as the team’s leading receiver (27 catches).

Stoddard finished with 24 receptions for 623 yards, a remarkable

26-yard average from his tight end position.

Senior fullback Fahad Jahid rushed nine times for 30 yards, giving him

951 yards on the ground for the campaign.

Valbuena finished 11 of 19 for 160 passing yards. He winds up with

1,371 aerial yards for the season and 2,718 for his three-year varsity

career.

Cesar Romero had a sack and Jahid, Jesse Cardenas, Stoddard, and Ivan

Garcia added big hits for the Eagles, who have now gone five tries and 20

seasons without a playoff win.

Murray collected 110 yards on 17 carries and quarterback Michael

Echaves completed 6 of 9 passes for 219 yards. Echaves hooked up three

times with Daniel Fells for gains of 75, 15 and 61.

Romo made touchdown-saving tackles on Fells’ two big pickups, but it

only delayed the inevitable.