Irvine and University ready for football openers at home Friday night

Uni’s Scott Meyer (left) and Irvine’s Erik Terry this summer.

Irvine and University football teams had zero week off last week.

But both squads are in action on Friday in week one of the high school football season and both are at home.

Irvine hosts Rancho Buena Vista at Irvine Stadium while University hosts Laguna Hills at University.

Both games start at 7 p.m.

Irvine, 6-4 last year, will face a Rancho Buena Vista that lost its first game 31-14 to Westview of San Diego. The team was 7-6 overall last year and defeated Irvine 40-37.

“The Vaqueros are excited to kick off the 2018 season on Friday night against the Longhorns of Rancho Buena Vista,” said Irvine Coach Erik Terry.

“Last year’s game was a little bit of a shoot-out with RBV coming out on top 40-37. They return running back Dorian Richardson who ran for over 2,500 yards in 2017 along with three starting linemen.

“Like last season they are physical upfront and we will have to play great run defense. Our offensive line has shown tremendous improvement during fall camp and they are ready for the task of protecting our quarterback (Marc Filia) so we can get the ball in the hands of one of our many explosive playmakers.

“Our keys to victory this week are protect the football, be disciplined and give relentless effort. If we can sustain these three things four all four quarters we believe we will give ourselves a chance to win the game at the end.”

UNIVERSITY VS. LAGUNA HILLS

Friday’s game at Uni will mark the debut of new University coach Scott Meyer, who takes over for long-time coach Mark Cunningham, who retired at the end of last season.

It will be also be the first game for Laguna Hills, coached by Mike Maceranka. The Hawks were 2-7 last year.

“We are excited for Friday night and everyone is healthy,” Meyer said. “We were impressed with Laguna Hills in their scrimmage last week.

“The keys for us on Friday to play well is to have everyone do their job and to play together as a team. In any opener as a coach I think you just want your team to play well and to not hurt ourselves with mental mistakes and turnovers.”