TWO-MINUTE DRILL

Moments after seeing Estancia High running back Carlos Mendez go into the Eagles’ record books with 299 rushing yards, Costa Mesa Coach Jeremy Osso credited others for the junior’s career night Friday at Newport Harbor High.

“I don’t know if it’s Mendez,” Osso said after Mendez needed 37 carries to top James Dawkins’ 247-yard performance on 15 carries against Laguna Beach in 1996. “That line is something fierce. Any time you have a running game that dominates like that, you give the credit to the offensive line.”

The leader of the Eagles’ line, left tackle Connor McKendry, said Mendez’s effort, which also produced three touchdowns in the Orange Coast League game, was the reason Estancia won, 41-13, in the Battle for the Bell.

The Eagles (5-4, 2-0 in league) controlled the game and their destiny, winning at least a share of their first league championship since 1989.

With a win over Laguna Beach Friday in the regular-season finale, Estancia wins the title outright and heads into the CIF Southern Section playoffs with a lot of momentum.

 Twice in the first half, the Eagles couldn’t catch the Byrd.

Junior tailback Antwon Byrd opened the game for Costa Mesa by taking a quick, short pass down Estancia’s sideline for a 72-yard score, putting the Mustangs up, 6-0, nine seconds into the contest.

Byrd’s second score came on a streak down Costa Mesa’s sideline. The tailback took the 48-yard pass to the house and cut the Mustangs’ deficit to 28-13 with 10 seconds left before halftime.

Byrd was quarterback Brian Waldron’s favorite target. Byrd caught four of Waldron’s five passes to finish with 139 yards. He also rushed for 50 yards.

 Sage Hill School’s 37-28 victory over Brethren Christian on Saturday was supposed to start at 1 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.

The reason for the time change? Coach Pete Anderson said it was so several players could take their SATs, which were Saturday morning and not supposed to end until around noon.

 Both Estancia and Costa Mesa will be without two senior starters in their respective regular-season finales.

Estancia offensive right tackle/defensive end Sean Ulrich and Costa Mesa right tackle Jorge Sandoval were ejected in the fourth quarter from the Battle for the Bell game. Due to CIF rules, players have to sit out the next game after being ejected.

 Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said Lyon’s interception in the flat, which came after Marina quarterback Zach Couey rolled to his right, showed how aware the Sailors were.

He said Marina was using a play similar to one Esperanza used successfully during the Aztecs’ 28-7 victory on Oct. 19.

“It set the tone, absolutely,” Brinkley said. “Ned Lyon did a great job. They ran a little route that gave us some problems against Esperanza, but Ned jumped it and made a great pick.”

The interception set up Newport Harbor’s first touchdown, a four-yard run from Ben Frazier.

 After throwing for a season-high 264 yards against Los Alamitos, Newport Harbor junior quarterback Andrew McDonald had to do considerably less against Marina.

But McDonald was still efficient. He completed all three of his passes, two of which went for touchdowns. He also ran for a score.

“I didn’t have to do too much,” he said. “We just ran the ball pretty well.”

 Sage Hill freshman kicker Taylor Ross made several big plays in the fourth quarter to help the Lightning to their win.

His only punt of the day went for 50 yards in the fourth quarter. Then, after Sage Hill scored its final touchdown to go ahead by eight, the Lightning committed a substitution penalty.

It didn’t matter for Ross, who nailed the 25-yard extra point to make it a two-possession game. Ross, perhaps running on adrenaline at that point, drove his ensuing kickoff through the end zone for the touchback.

“His improvement curve on his kicking has just been huge,” Anderson said. “He has been working a lot outside of practice, and he just gets better every week.”

 The Sailors’ blowout win gave Brinkley a chance to use many reserves in the second half, yet they kept the offense moving. Senior Woody Yokoyama (81 yards) had two touchdown runs, and junior Chase Palanjian (52 yards) and senior Joel Gutierrez (18) each had some impressive runs after receiving handoffs from backup senior quarterback Justin Jones.

Brinkley said the lopsided score also gave him a chance to rest junior fullback Brandon Kula, who also starts at linebacker. The Sailors used senior Josh Dill at fullback for much of the game.

 With Mendez one yard short of 300, Estancia first-year coach Mike Bargas said he had no idea his running back was that close to the milestone after pulling him late in the fourth quarter.

“We’re not out to put a feather in our cap,” said Bargas, whose team ran off five more running plays after Mendez exited. “We’re grateful that we did what we did.”

Mendez leads Newport-Mesa rushers with 1,307 yards this fall.

 Corona del Mar Coach Dick Freeman said an old colleague once told him that it’s time to stop coaching when “The pain of losing is worse than the joy of winning.” Freeman has been coaching for 32 years, and he’s now in his 12th year as head football coach at CdM.

And so far, the flip-flop that signals retirement has yet to bite him, he said.

— From staff reports