Football: Laguna in search of first league win

The Laguna Beach High football team reaches the halfway point of the Orange Coast League race Friday when it travels to Costa Mesa to tangle with the Estancia Eagles.

The game, set for a 7 p.m. start at Jim Scott Stadium, pits teams coming from opposite directions.

Laguna last week put up its second-highest point total of the season in a league encounter with Saddleback, but it wasn’t enough for the Breakers, who dropped their homecoming game, 38-31. The loss sent the Breakers to 0-2 in league play and their sixth consecutive loss put them at 1-6 overall.

Laguna never led in the game but was within 14-10 in the second quarter against a run-heavy Saddleback team that wound up rushing for 365 yards and four touchdowns in improving to 2-0 in league and 4-3 overall.

The Roadrunners won for the first time in five attempts against Laguna in OCL play.

“I felt it took everything Saddleback had to beat us,” Laguna Coach Corey Brown said. “I told the kids they’d need to play all the way through to the final whistle to win the game. Our effort was good, and our attitude was good. I thought we gave a good effort but came up short.”

Laguna tied the score at 7-7 in the first quarter on a 66-yard touchdown run by Nick Krantz. After falling behind, 14-7, Bruce Knill kicked a 41-yard field goal to pull the Breakers within 14-10 midway through the second quarter. Saddleback scored late in the half and went into the break holding a 21-10 advantage.

An 11-yard run by Knill late in the third quarter drew Laguna to within 27-17 and less than four minutes into the fourth quarter, quarterback Jack Simon hit receiver Brett Tracy with a six-yard scoring pass to narrow the Roadrunners’ lead to 30-24.

A 26-yard touchdown run by Bryan Salcido, Saddleback’s leading rusher, came with less than six minutes to play and put the Roadrunners in front, 38-24. Laguna’s final score came on a seven-yard pass from Simon to Ryan Blaser with 50 seconds remaining.

Simon threw for 219 yards and the two touchdowns on 14-of-27 passing. Tracy had nine receptions total 111 yards. Krantz was Laguna’s top rusher with six carries for 72 yards, but suffered a knee injury early in the game.

“I thought Jack played his best game,” Brown said of his quarterback. “His decision-making was good and he made a great decision in one situation to throw the ball away. We had a couple of drops by our guys, too.

“I also thought Brett Tracy played a great game. He’s a stud for us on offense and defense and just makes plays. Nick [Krantz] got off to a good start before tweaking his knee, and Bruce [Knill] did a good job in the backfield, as well.”

Laguna now faces an Estancia team that is peaking at the right time. After a 1-2 start to the season, the Eagles come into Friday’s game riding a four-game winning streak, the last two wins coming at the outset of the OCL schedule.

During that four-game run, Estancia has averaged 31 points a game, one less than its game average for the season.

The Eagles share first place in the league standings with Saddleback.

“They’re hot, once again, at the right time,” Brown said. “We beat them last year (a 59-14 Laguna win) and then they went on a win streak (three games) and made the [CIF] playoffs.

“Coach [Mike] Bargas has them playing good football right now. They can run the ball and last week, they did a good job of stopping Costa Mesa’s run game.”

In the 48th annual Battle for the Bell between city rivals on Oct. 17, Estancia shut down a Costa Mesa team that had previously scored a 48-0 league-opening win over Laguna. The Eagles captured the bell for the fourth time in the last five years with a 28-3 victory. Sophomore running back Dylan Laurent rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries, and junior quarterback Connor Brown threw for 130 yards and ran for a touchdown to key the win.

The Estancia game is the first of three remaining on Laguna’s regular season schedule. The Breakers need a big finish in order to extend their season.

“We’re taking a one-game-at-a-time approach each week, and we’re focused on Estancia,” Brown said. “Our goals are to win league and be a playoff contender. We still have goals in sight. We’d like to have more wins, but our guys are not hanging their heads and they are still going to fight and play hard.”

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Results/Schedule

Laguna Beach (1-6)

45...Bolsa Grande...12

10...University...37

21...Westminster...57

14...St. Margaret’s...35

14...Northwood...38

0...*Costa Mesa...48

31...*Saddleback...38

Friday: *at Estancia, 7 p.m.

Oct. 31: *Calvary Chapel

Nov. 7: *Godinez