Two-Minute Drill: Eagles on seven-game winning streak

The Estancia High football team clinched the outright Orange Coast League title, its first since 2011, with a convincing 44-13 victory over Saddleback on Friday night at Jim Scott Stadium.

Estancia (8-2) easily won the battle of the two unbeaten teams in league. Sophomore Dylan Laurent played a big role in all aspects, with 341 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns.

The Eagles play host to Santiago, an at-large team from the Garden Grove League, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs Friday night at 7 p.m. When they step on the field, they will put their seven-game winning streak on the line.

It’s the longest winning streak for Estancia since the 2011 season, which ended with the Eagles earning their first CIF semifinal appearance in program history before falling there to Beckman. Estancia has not won eight straight games since the 1989 team recorded a perfect 10-0 regular season.

— Matt Szabo

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•On the final play last week, Newport Harbor High punched its ticket to the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoffs.

Fullback Trevor Shaw pounded his way into the end zone from the one, producing the game-winning touchdown as time expired to give the Sailors a 34-33 come-from-behind win against Fountain Valley at Huntington Beach High. The Sailors clinched third place in the Sunset League and its final guaranteed postseason berth.

Newport Harbor (5-5, 3-2 in league) qualified for the playoffs for the 23rd time in 29 years under Coach Jeff Brinkley. The Sailors open at Tesoro (8-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Sailors go into the meeting against the runner-up finisher from the South Coast League with some momentum, having won two straight, the second one coming down to the wire.

“We’ve had some pretty crazy [finishes],” said Brinkley, who saw the lead change four times in the final 4 minutes, 10 seconds against Fountain Valley. “I don’t know if I had any like this.”

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•Chase Garbers appears to be the Tom Brady of the Corona del Mar High football team.

Garbers, a sophomore who started two games (Oct. 17 and Oct. 24) while season-opening starter Peter Bush recovered from a sprained ankle, came off the bench in an Oct. 30 win over Beckman. But Garbers started the regular-season finale on Friday, a 14-0 triumph over Northwood at Irvine High that clinched the outright league title for the Sea Kings (9-1, 5-0 in league), who have now won three straight league crowns and 15 straight league games.

What’s more, Bush, the Drew Bledsoe in this scenario, was shifted to tight end, confirming a change that figures to hold through the rest of the season.

Bush, a junior, completed 74 of 121 passes for 993 yards and six touchdowns, with four interceptions. He also rushed for seven touchdowns and 242 yards on 71 attempts.

Garbers, who saw time early in the season coming off the bench and played more than a half in the league-opening win at Irvine High (a game in which Bush hurt his ankle), has been even more efficient and productive. Garbers has completed 73 of 98 (nearly 75%) for 972 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has thrown only two interceptions.

In addition, Garbers has rushed for nine touchdowns, including both of his team’s scores against Northwood, and has 213 rushing yards on 60 attempts.

— Barry Faulkner

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•With a trip to the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs at stake, Costa Mesa High was shut out for the first time this season.

The Mustangs lost to host Calvary Chapel, 40-0, costing them third place in the Orange Coast League and the league’s No. 3 automatic postseason entry. Calvary Chapel earned the league’s No. 3 berth into the playoffs for the second straight year.

Costa Mesa did not earn one of the Southern Division’s at-large playoff berths on Sunday, when the section released the postseason pairings. The Mustangs finished with a 2-8 overall record for the first time since 2005. They placed fourth in league at 2-3.

During Wally Grant’s four seasons in charge of the Mustangs, the team has missed the playoffs half the time.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•The Sailors made the playoffs for the sixth straight year.

The last time they failed to qualify for the playoffs was in 2008, when the Sailors finished tied for first with four other teams in the Sunset League. Back then, a random tiebreaker eliminated the Sailors from the postseason.

Newport Harbor avoided another tiebreaker process by beating the Barons, who went into last week one game back of the Sailors and tied for fourth place with Huntington Beach.

The Barons were 42 seconds away from topping the Sailors. They took a 33-28 lead on a 59-yard touchdown hook up between quarterback Kent Swift and Moe Falealii, and it looked like coin flips would determine third place in league. The Oilers had taken care of Marina, 63-14.

Brinkley’s team almost gave the game away to Fountain Valley.

“Yeah, we did,” said Brinkley, whose team looked like it had the game wrapped up after Fountain Valley turned the ball over on downs on the Barons’ 30-yard line with 2:06 left to play.

The Sailors had the ball in Fountain Valley territory and a 28-27 lead, but they didn’t burn much time off the clock. They ran on first and second down, forcing the Barons to call a timeout after the second run. Fountain Valley had one more timeout left, and it didn’t have to use it. An incomplete pass on third-and-10 stopped the clock with 70 seconds.

Faced with a fourth-and-10 on the Barons’ 30-yard, the Sailors decided to run. The play went for a two-yard loss, and Newport Harbor turned the ball over on downs with 64 seconds to go.

Two plays and 22 seconds later, Fountain Valley went ahead, 33-28.

After the ensuing kickoff, the Sailors had 34 seconds to score a touchdown, or deal with another tiebreaker. The end zone was 66 yards away. They made it in six plays, using every second.

Cole Norris rushed for nine yards, completed a 22-yard pass to receiver Keaton Cablay, spiked the ball, and then found receiver Riley Gaddis on a 34-yard pass, getting Newport Harbor to the Barons’ one. From there, Norris spiked the ball with six seconds left.

“Cole came over and said, ‘The line wants wedge,’” Brinkley said. “They felt like they could get it in.”

The line was right. Norris handed the ball to Shaw, and he rammed in for his second one-yard touchdown run, keeping Newport Harbor’s season alive.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•Dylan Laurent’s play has certainly been a big story for the Eagles. But his older brother Christian, a senior, has also been solid for Estancia in more ways than one.

Christian Laurent had 17 carries for 49 yards against Saddleback, while Dylan had 10 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown. Both players had an interception on defense in the first half, part of five turnovers that the Eagles forced.

“I think it’s really great and selfless of [Christian], who’s our starting running back, to let his brother go in there,” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said. “We have like three or four sets of brothers, and I told those guys, this will be the last time we get to play together as a group. Christian’s one of our captains, and to see him support his brother … it’s a really selfless football team.”

— Matt Szabo

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•In the regular-season finale, Costa Mesa played its third- and fourth-string quarterbacks because it was without its starter and backup.

Cameron Curet, who plays everywhere on the field, started at quarterback against Calvary Chapel, and Mason Mataafa saw time as well. With the two juniors, the Mustangs ran a Wildcat offense for most of the evening, Curet carrying the ball 33 times for 113 yards and Mataafa seven times for 23 yards.

Sammy Swanson, who started the team’s first seven games at quarterback, was lost for the season with a knee injury on Oct. 17. His backup, Eric Carrasco, suffered a concussion in his second start on Oct. 31.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•Estancia was younger than usual against Saddleback. Four sophomores played on offense with junior tight end Jason Jones (hand) and senior left tackle Brian Southwick (ACL) out.

Besides Dylan Laurent, Jeffrey Alai played tight end and outside linebacker, while Tyler Ross played receiver and safety. And Colby Arnesdorf got the start at tackle.

Ross caught two passes for 39 yards for Estancia.

“That’s how this team has been,” Bargas said. “One guy goes down, and two guys come up.”

— Matt Szabo

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•Norris threw his 28th touchdown pass of the season last week, breaking the Newport Harbor single-season record of 27 set by him last year.

Gaddis did most of the work on the touchdown play in the third quarter. The senior caught a short pass, and turned it up field, toward the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown.

The score was the first of two in the second half by Gaddis. His other score came on special teams. He returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown, giving Newport Harbor a 28-27 lead with 3:58 left.

Norris completed five passes to Gaddis for 126 yards and one touchdown. The Northern Arizona-bound senior finished 13 of 20 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

For his career, Norris has passed for 6,760 yards and 71 touchdowns, ranking him No. 8 and No. 7 in those two stats, respectively, in Orange County history.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•While Chase Garbers is now spearheading the offense for CdM, senior end Parker Chase is clearly doing the same for the defense.

Chase collected two sacks and also stuffed a running play for a one-yard loss on the first defensive series on Friday. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder was later credited with another sack and now has 20 sacks for the season to go with his team-leading 81 tackles.

Chase has a mind-boggling 36 sacks the last two seasons, during which he has helped CdM amass eight shutouts.

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•The CdM defense may not have needed much help, but it certainly benefited from extended rests as the Sea Kings’ offense compiled scoring drives of nine plays and 99 yards and 15 plays for 88 yards. The latter procession, on which CdM overcame three penalties and faced only one third down, was one second shy of consuming exactly half of the 12-minute second quarter.

For good measure, and to help protect its 14-0 lead, CdM produced a 13-play drive that ended with a punt that ate 5:11 off the fourth-quarter clock.

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•CdM’s fourth shutout of the season came without the services of senior starting defensive tackles Justin Hess and Mat Flores, both of whom sat out with minor injuries that Coach Scott Meyer said should not keep them from returning for the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoff opener Friday against Tustin.

Sophomore Teddy Barber, and senior Brett Davidson filled in admirably for Hess (6.5 sacks) and Flores (5.5 sacks), who have helped the starting front four that includes senior end Harrison Carter combine for 38.5 sacks this season. Including backups, members of the front four have been responsible for 43.5 of the team’s 46 sacks (the other 2.5 produced by linebackers).

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•Costa Mesa joins Laguna Beach as the only two programs in Orange Coast League history to go undefeated in league one year and miss the playoffs the next year.

The Mustangs, which went perfect in league in 2013, failed to make the postseason after they dropped three of their final four league games this year.

Laguna Beach has gone undefeated three times in league, 2012, ’09 and ‘06, and each time it hasn’t advanced to the postseason in the following season.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•Costa Mesa’s setback to Calvary Chapel was a first.

The Mustangs held an 11-0 all-time record against Calvary Chapel, until the Eagles blanked Costa Mesa, 40-0, last week.

Before that, the closest Calvary Chapel came to beating Costa Mesa was in 2006, losing 21-14 in the inaugural season of the Orange Coast League.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

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•Due to a quirk in the schedule, Sage Hill celebrated Homecoming the first weekend in November and its final game of the football season.

Hundreds of alumni returned to the Newport Coast campus for a carnival of entertainment with a live band and food trucks on Friday before the game against Crean Lutheran.

— Matt Morrison

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•Sage Hill senior quarterback C.J. McCord is a three-sport athlete who also plays basketball and is headed for a collegiate future in track and field. The 6-foot-1, 170 pound athlete finished second in the state high jump competition as a junior, clearing 6-feet, 10 1/4 inches.

— Matt Morrison