Irvine’s football team, led by Coach Tom Ricci, joins in the school’s alma mater and later thanks the fans for attending. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Irvine High School’s football team put together an effective ball control offense and combined with a stingy defensive effort which made some key stops, defeated Laguna Hills 28-7 in a non-league game Thursday night at Irvine Stadium.
Leading the way for Irvine (3-1) was senior quarterback Sina Saferzadeh. He completed 12 of 23 passes for 165 yards and rushed for 118 yards on 13 carries, providing the offensive spark and leadership.
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Junior running back Seamus Hoffman was also solid, scoring two rushing touchdowns. He wound up with 87 yards rushing on 20 carries. Receiver Enzoo Cahoon had five catches for 59 yards.
“The guys did a great job this week,” said Irvine Coach Tom Ricci. “We actually had three good practices, our goal was to keep fixing mistakes. We knew Laguna Hills is a good team and if we can be physical with Laguna Hills, we can be physical with anybody because they are tough in the trenches and our guys really stepped up their game.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Sina and Seamus running the ball. Our defense holding them down to the wire. Things are looking up for us, I’m really excited.”
Irvine held Laguna Hills on its first offensive possession and then took over and drove all the way to the Hawks 9-yard line on a drive which took up a good amount of the first quarter. Laguna Hills (2-2) thwarted Irvine’s scoring bid.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Vaqueros (3-1) moved ahead 7-0 on Hoffman’s 7 yard TD run. The drive took up almost seven minutes.
Laguna Hills quarterback Jaxson Vanderbeek helped the Hawks drive to the Irvine 11-yard line on the next possession, but a pass on fourth down was incomplete.
Irvine then got into scoring position on the next drive on a 55-yard pass from Saferzadeh to Smith Spivey, which advanced the ball to the Laguna Hills 36.
The Vaqueros then moved ahead 13-0 on a 5-yard TD pass from Saferzadeh to Cole Reidel culminating another long drive. Irvine was flagged for a celebration penalty which moved the ball back on the conversion. Irvine was unable to convert but went into the locker-room with a comfortable lead.
In the fourth quarter, Saferzadeh scored on a 5-yard TD run and connected with Spivey on a 2-point conversion to put Irvine ahead 21-0. Spivey had two catches for 65 yards.
“Smith is a stud, we wanted to keep him on one side of the ball but he’s too damn good, we have to put him on both sides, he doesn’t come off the field. He’s a great kid,” Ricci said.
Vanderbeek scored from seven yards out with 7:12 left to cut the lead to 21-7.
But Hoffman scored his second TD on a 5-yard run with 2:26 to give the Vaqueros a 28-7 lead. Irvine’s Rene Avila ended Laguna Hills last drive with an interception.
Saferzadeh said the Vaqueros were motivated after a loss to Portola.
“This victory meant a lot to us, I feel like when we’re at home, we take pride in our field,” he said. “Losing to Portola in week two kind of gave us a check of reality after we came off a great win vs. Northwood. We had to realize we don’t want to lose ever again. It made us realize we need to execute on all levels and be physical and I think we executed on all of those.”
The Vaqueros quarterback said he goes into every game knowing his team can put together a solid running game.
“I think that’s always our plan,” he said. “We always want to be a more physical than the other team and we want to run the ball. There has been a different mentality on our team after week two, we needed to bounce back from that loss and push forward because we’re trying to make a great playoff run.”
“We had a great night,” Hoffman added. “Everyone was firing on all cylinders, I had two touchdowns, but really, the line had two touchdowns, I give all my credit to the line and the fullbacks and receivers, everyone was blocking great tonight and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Vanderbeek, the Laguna Hills quarterback, had nine completions for 52 yards. Senior running back Khryztopher Entrala led the Hawks rushing for 92 yards on 14 carries.
On the anniversary of 9/11, one of the Vaqueros carried the American flag as his teammates entered the field before the game. Fans were also asked before the game to remember those who lost their lives and were injured and the first responders.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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