Estancia Dominates Legacy Academy 41-8 to Take Control of District 3-2A

BERNALILLO, N.M. — The Estancia Bears seized full control of the District 3-2A title race Saturday night, dominating the line of scrimmage in a physical 41-8 victory over the Legacy Academy Silverbacks at Bernalillo High School.

With the win, Estancia improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in district play, putting the Bears squarely in the driver’s seat for a league crown and high postseason seeding. Legacy Academy dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in district action.

From the opening whistle, the Bears imposed their will on the ground. Quintin Barela ignited the offense early, breaking loose for a 47-yard touchdown sprint midway through the first quarter to put Estancia up 6-0 following a blocked extra-point attempt.

Despite having two potential touchdown runs called back on penalties—one by Devon Chavez for holding and another by Barela for aiding the runner—Estancia continued to control the tempo. Chavez eventually punched in a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs in the second quarter, sandwiching an interception by Barela to send the Bears into halftime holding a commanding 19-0 advantage.

Legacy Academy showed signs of life coming out of the break. On the opening drive of the third quarter, running back Xander Chavez broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run and followed with a successful two-point conversion run to trim the deficit to 19-8.

Estancia answered immediately. Joshua Villafuerte restored the double-digit cushion with a 13-yard touchdown run later in the period to make it 25-8.

In the fourth quarter, the Bears put the game out of reach through the air when Devon Chavez connected with Russell Acosta on a 21-yard touchdown strike. Villafuerte hauled in the two-point conversion catch to stretch the margin to 33-8.

After the Estancia defense made a stand on downs at its own 18-yard line, tension flared. Lining up to punt, the Bears received an automatic first down when Legacy Academy was flagged for a personal foul for running into the punter. Barela capitalized moments later, sealing the victory with an 8-yard touchdown run followed by another two-point conversion reception from Villafuerte.

Estancia head coach Stewart Burnett noted that his team had anticipated the matchup for months.

“Our game plans never differ very much. We want to control the game. We want to control line of scrimmage. We want to run through people’s faces, and we want to see if you have suffered enough to endure and play the style of football we want to play,” Burnett said. “I’ve had this game circled on my calendar since our schedule came out last December. I knew if we wanted to win a district championship, that it ran through Legacy. Whoever won tonight was absolutely in the driver’s seat.”

Burnett also praised his defensive unit for stifling Legacy Academy’s offense outside of the single breakaway score, while noting his team’s depth after overcoming in-game injuries. Quintin Barela had an interception for the Bears.

“That’s the best defensive game we’ve had in years,” Burnett said. “They just keep getting better, and we’re getting takeaways, setting the offense up, and we’re being very efficient. We’re becoming a pretty complete football team, and that can make us very problematic.”

Estancia returns home Friday to face Cobre at 7 p.m.