Estancia Eagles drop the ball against Century

Barry Faulkner

The Estancia High football team played its way back into its

familiar underdog role Friday, losing the turnover battle, 5-0, and

dropping the nonleague contest, 35-7, to Century at Tustin High.

Eagles Coach Jay Noonan has preached long and hard during the

offseason about trying to limit the turnovers and assignment errors

that plagued his team through last year’s 0-9 campaign. He now has a

one-game visual aid to illustrate to this year’s unit just how costly

those mistakes can be.

“We’re still a young team,” Noonan said. “I’ve said it’s hard for

us to overcome a great deal of mistakes, but it would be hard for any

team to win with the turnovers we had against Century.”

Noonan said all but one of the lost fumbles occurred when Estancia

ball carriers were trying to make extra yards, sacrificing ball

security in the process.

The lone interception thrown by Estancia resulted in a 31-yard

touchdown return by Century’s Alan Amasio and a breakdown on kickoff

coverage led to an 85-yard touchdown return to open the second half.

The long kickoff return began a 21-point burst from Century (2-0)

within a span of 5:09, turning a 7-7 halftime tie into an

insurmountable deficit for the Eagles (1-1).

“Century played with a lot of heart and enthusiasm and this was a

big game for them,” Noonan said. “They took advantage of our mistakes

and they didn’t turn the ball over. When you commit turnovers, you’re

fueling the other team’s fire. We were throwing gasoline on the

fire.”

Noonan also lamented the five sacks his offense surrendered, for

47 yards in losses, some of which occurred on attempted screen

passes.

“We should never get caught for losses on a screen pass,” Noonan

said.

Noonan did point out several positives, including a strong rushing

performance by senior quarterback Lewis Bradshaw and continued strong

defense by sophomore end Bryce McKendry.

Bradshaw rushed for 79 yards on 12 carries, while sharing the

position with junior Brad Young.

Young completed 4 of 5 passes for 43 yards and continues to

justify his spot in the rotation, according to Noonan.

“They both are doing good things for us,” Noonan said of his two

quarterbacks. “When we bring Brad in, we’re able to move Lewis to

receiver, which really strengthens our receiving corps.”

Bradshaw had three catches for 26 yards and also completed five

passes for 53 yards.

Noonan was also pleased about producing 201 yards on 33 rushing

plays, an average of more than 6 yards per attempt.

“I thought we moved the ball pretty well,” Noonan said.

“The good news is, there are eight games left,” Noonan added. “And

we still have one more win than we did all last year. (Friday) was a

classic case of beating ourselves, but I think we’ll be able to learn

from it. As coaches, we have to remind ourselves we’re still trying

to teach these kids how to win. We believe we can play much better

and we know we haven’t played as well as we can.”

The Eagles will attempt to get back on track when it hosts Katella

(2-0) Friday night at Orange Coast College.