Bargas seeks second win

COSTA MESA — So much is on Estancia High Coach Mike Bargas’ mind.

The first win is already out of the way for the first-year head coach. More of a relief than anything else he said, but time to move on.

That’s until someone reminds him of his Thursday night plans.

The Battle of the Bay between Newport Harbor, his alma mater, and Corona del Mar was three hours away. Is the Battle of the Bay game on his itinerary?

“I haven’t missed [the] game since 1986,” said the 1990 graduate, who went on to be an assistant at Newport Harbor before taking over at Estancia, which is 1-2. “But my mind is elsewhere.”

For almost the rest of the night Bargas will lock in on JSerra (1-1), tonight’s opponent at Saddleback College at 7:30. A couple of hours in between the night will go to scouting Orange Coast League foe Calvary Chapel at Orange Coast College.

Against a Jim Hartigan-coached team, Bargas knows to be prepared for anything — even against a JSerra program that has only three wins in its history. Hartigan left a successful Clovis West program, where he claimed three Tri-River Athletic Conference titles and appeared in four Central Section championship games, after leaving Santa Margarita in 2003.

“They’re young, but they’re going to be very, very well coached,” said Bargas, adding that he coached against Hartigan as an assistant when Santa Margarita was in the Sea View League. “Hopefully we can catch them on an off night.”

All week long Bargas said his staff has stressed the fundamentals, especially staying at home, containing the outside, no over pursuing against a spread offense.

“At least they’ll line up correctly,” Bargas said of his defense, which has allowed 13 and 16 points in the last two games, respectively, picking up its play.

So did the offense last week, with running back Carlos Mendez rushing for 211 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Bargas was impressed with quarterback Mike Morley’s leadership.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].