Estancia handles Santa Rosa 34-12 in rainy rivalry battle

ESTANCIA, N.M. — The Bears’ quarterback rushed for three second-half touchdowns and Estancia weathered passing rainstorms to pull away for a 34-12 victory over Santa Rosa on Friday night.

Santa Rosa struck first in the wet conditions when Preston Muniz broke free for a 15-yard touchdown run early in the opening quarter. Estancia answered immediately behind Joshua Villafuerte, who tied the game with a 12-yard scamper and then converted a drop-kick point-after to put the Bears ahead 7-6.

After the Estancia defense came up with a pivotal fourth-down stop at its own 15-yard line, Quintin Barela capped the ensuing drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge. Estancia’s quarterback ran in the 2-point conversion, extending the margin to 15-6 before Villafuerte snuffed out a late Santa Rosa threat with an interception to end the half.

Despite holding a two-score lead at the break, Estancia coach Stewart Burnett said his young squad needed to shake off the intimidation factor of facing a perennial rival.

“We didn’t adjust (at halftime) anything. We just and it’s part of being so young, I think sometimes we want to feel people out, and Santa Rosa is a phenomenal program,” Burnett said. “I told them, I said, ‘If I put them in a different school’s uniform, you guys would run right through their freaking faces.’ We don’t play cute football. We want to go through people’s faces. We want to run right through their teeth.”

The Bears took that message to heart in the second half. The Bears’ quarterback opened the third quarter with a 15-yard scoring burst to make it 21-6 after a blocked extra point. Following another defensive stop on downs deep in territory, The quarterback struck again, slicing through the mud for a 13-yard touchdown run. Villafuerte added the PAT to push the lead to 28-6.

Santa Rosa trimmed the deficit when Lachlan Ross broke loose on a 20-yard touchdown run, but the failed conversion pass kept the score at 28-12.

The quarterback put the contest entirely out of reach with a 1-yard dive into the end zone, his third touchdown of the night. Barela sealed the victory late, intercepting a Santa Rosa pass in the end zone and returning it out to the 12-yard line.

“Our defense is really coming along. We’ve been so consistent offensively, and now the defense is coming along,” Burnett said. “We’re becoming a problem, and if we can just keep our heads down, keep focused, we can be a real problem. But we still have a long ways to go.”

Estancia enters district play next week for its homecoming matchup and is expected to regain all-state tight end Daniel Hernandez, who has missed the start of the season due to injury.