Ground game gloom

Two games deep into Estancia High first-year football coach Brian

Barnes’ tenure, and one statistic stands out more than any other:

If the Eagles are going to get any sort of offensive production

going, a running game must be established.

Estancia rushed for 22 yards on 24 carries and fell to visiting

Huntington Park, 23-6, in a nonleague contest Thursday night at

Orange Coast College.

“Definitely the running game needs improvement,” said Barnes,

whose team posted 2 yards on 21 attempts in a season-opening loss to

Corona del Mar Friday. “You guys can see yourself, we’ve got a lot of

work to do with the o-line, and getting them to come off [the ball].

We must establish a run game for us to be successful.”

While the running game struggled, senior quarterback Ryan Watson

showed flashes of brilliance for the Eagles (0-2), connecting on a

75-yard touchdown pass to junior wide out Matt Redding in the second

quarter.

Watson finished 8 of 16 for 107 yards and a touchdown, while

Redding hauled in three catches for 87 yards and the TD.

Still, in order for Watson to be more effective, he said, the

ground game needs to be in order.

“It’s a big impact, because they keep more people in the box

rushing us and I’m not able to drop back as much,” Watson said. “And

when we try and pass they’ve got people backed up on us.”

Huntington Park (1-0), the defending Eastern League champions from

the CIF City Section, racked up 345 yards rushing on 39 carries.

Senior tailback Jose Rivas darted for 130 yards while junior back

Robert Navarro accumulated 130 yards and a TD.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

*--*

Huntington Park 3 14 6 0 - 23

Estancia 0 6 0 0 - 6

*--*

FIRST QUARTER

HP -- Espinoza 29 FG, 5:00.

SECOND QUARTER

HP -- Morales 3 run (Maldonado kick), 11:25.

Est -- Redding 75 pass from Watson (pass failed), 10:12.

HP -- Morales 3 run (Maldonado kick), 3:37.

THIRD QUARTER

HP -- Rivas 3 run (pass failed), 4:31.

A -- 200(est.)

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

HP -- Navarro, 8-123; Hernandez, 6-58; Rivas, 12-130, 1 TD; Ortiz,

4-minus-4; Huerta, 3-17; Morales, 3-9, 2 TDs; Hernandez, 3-12.

Est -- O’Neil, 4-19; Clayton, 4-4; Redding, 1-2; Villalvazo, 1-1;

Watson, 14-minus-4.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

HP -- Ortiz 15-24-0, 136.

Est -- Watson 8-16-0, 107.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

HP -- Morales, 2-27; Hernandez, 1-22; Rivera, 1-17; Castillo,

2-23; Navarro, 2-10; Rivas, 3-22; Murillo, 1-4; Huerta, 2-11.

Est -- Redding, 3-87, 1 TD; Villalvazo, 2-15; LaGrand, 1-5.

GAME STATISTICS

*--*

HP Est

First downs 24 6

Rushes-yardage 39-345 24-22

Passing yardage 136 107

Passing 15-24-0 8-16-0

Net return yards* 33 61

Sacks-yardage 5-45 1-12

Net yardage 501 146

Punts 1-16 6-36.1

Fumbles-fumbles lost 2-2 0-0

Flags-net yardage 7-65 5-40

Time of possession 28:56 19:04

*Punt returns, interceptions, fumble returns

*--*