Davis had bulled through Grizzlies defenders for 118 yards on 20 carries before spending the rest of the night on the training table. But sophomore Alex Trancoso stepped in to make sure the offense kept moving the chains.
Trancoso contributed 63 yards on 13 carries to help the Eagles hold off a game Godinez squad (2-7, 0-3), which is now 0-7 in league games as a varsity program.
It was fourth-down conversions that helped the Eagles set the tone in the first half, as they converted on fourth-down plays in each of their second-quarter touchdown drives.
After Godinez went 34 yards on nine plays after Estancia punted out of its end zone, to close to within eight points with 7:58 left, the Eagles’ defense twice stopped the hosts on fourth down in the final 4:37 to preserve the win, their first since an Oct. 2 triumph over La Quinta.
The Eagles converted a fake punt early on their first possession to help swing the field-position battle.
A six-yard sack on third down by junior end Omar Gutierrez, giving him 9.5 for the season and 19.5 for his 18-game varsity career, pinned Godinez on its own 11-yard line. The subsequent punt went just 20 yards.
Nine plays and 31 yards later, Estancia senior quarterback Alek Kirshner hit junior fullback George De La Torre with a six-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.
Senior Jeff Kirchberg, who used the bye week to take over as the team’s kicker, booted the first of his two conversion kicks to create a 7-0 advantage with 10:29 left in the half.
On the drive, Davis surged four yards up the middle on fourth-and-three at the Godinez 24-yard line.
Godinez missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt on its ensuing possession and the two teams then exchanged fumbles.
