LAGUNA BEACH – Estancia spoiled Laguna Beach’s homecoming Friday night, 31-14, in an Orange Coast League game.
Laguna Beach opened the game with a 7-minute scoring drive, but Estancia answered on its first offensive play when quarterback Connor Brown threw a backward pass to brother Trevor Brown, who then found tight end Konrad O’Daly for a 65-yard TD.
“They held the ball for seven minutes and it was frustrating,” Estancia coach Mike Bargas said. “We knew they were going to come after us tonight, so we decided to go for it, and it was a big play.”
Laguna Beach’s rushing attack, led by quarterback Jack Simon and running back George Cracknell controlled the ball for much of the first half. Simon rushed for 130 yards on 14 carries before halftime, which helped limit Estancia to 17 offensive plays.
But the Eagles (3-5 overall, 2-1 league) took advantage of the Breakers’ mistakes, forcing two fumbles, both recovered by sophomore defensive lineman Jay Enciso.
Brown followed the second fumble recovery with a 15-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Jordan Balcazar for a 17-7 lead.
Simon drove the Breakers (2-6, 0-3) down the field on the ensuing drive and capped it with a 5-yard touchdown run, but O’Daly scored again to give Estancia a 24-14 lead at halftime.
After the kickoff to start the second half left them bad field position, Brown drove the Eagles 90 yards. Balcazar’s 3-yard touchdown run extended the lead to 17 points, 31-14.
