COSTA MESA – It took Dylan Laurent all of 13 seconds to give Estancia the lead in Friday night’s Orange Coast League championship game against Saddleback High.
The Eagles speedster took the opening kickoff 86 yards and raced to the end zone in the blink of an eye.
The return merely foreshadowed what was to come the rest of the night.
The do-it-all sophomore finished the evening with five touchdowns and 151 yards of total offense in Estancia’s impressive 44-13 victory over Saddleback on Friday night at Estancia High.
With the win, the Eagles (8-2, 5-0) claimed their first Orange Coast League title since 2011.
Estancia has reeled off seven consecutive wins dating to mid-September and it will host a first-round playoff game next week.
“It was a complete game I thought for us,” Eagles coach Mike Bargas said. “It was a nice way to end the regular football season when everybody is kind of keyed up and cued in. I just thought the guys looked a lot more organized than we did in the last few weeks.”
Laurent and his teammates dominated every facet of Friday night’s game. The sophomore returned two kickoffs for touchdowns (86 and 98 yards). His interception was one of four the Eagles forced on the night. And on offense, Laurent ran for a score (5 yards) and was on the receiving end of two more TDs (36 and 81 yards).
“It’s always a great feeling and I can’t explain how blessed we are,” the sophomore said after the win. “We just got to keep moving forward. We’re just getting started.”
As special as Laurent’s night was for Estancia, it was equally as frustrating for the Roadrunners (6-4, 4-1), who will go into the Southern Division playoffs as the No. 2 team from the Orange Coast League.
Saddleback went into Friday night’s contest with ambitions of winning its first league title since 1986. The Roadrunners, though, never quite bounced back from the opening kickoff.
With starting cornerback Jonathan Reyes out because of a high ankle sprain, Saddleback coach Rob Thompson feared Estancia would have success throwing the football, which ultimately proved to be true.
Eagles junior quarterback Connor Brown threw for a season-high 272 yards and three touchdowns against a shorthanded Roadrunners secondary.
Brown passed to Devon Jackson and Laurent for two second-quarter TDs, helping the Eagles take a 34-7 lead into the break.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
