Irvine Vaqueros had lots to celebrate after rallying for key league victory

Irvine Coach Tom Ricci talks to his players after Thursday’s victory. (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

It was a jubilant group of Irvine High School football players and coaches who celebrated a Pacific Hills League title on the field at Tustin High School Thursday night.

The Vaqueros rallied in the second half to capture a 20-12 victory over Beckman in their next to last game in the league. Next year, leagues in Orange County (except for the Trinity League) will be configured in based on records and schedules the past two seasons and Irvine will be in one of those yet un-named leagues.

It was the third league title at Irvine for Coach Tom Ricci who also celebrated his team winning the Dennis Toohey Fence Post Trophy, which goes to the top football team in Irvine. (Beckman is located in the city of Irvine and part of Tustin Unified School District).

Ricci admitted the game was stressful. He would rather his team would come out early and take a comfortable lead and he would be able to relax a little. But in the end, his squad was able to pull off its fourth comeback win of the season.

Many players stepped up in the win, including junior Deacon Moss, who had a big punt return which led to a TD, a couple key catches and rushes with his brother Beck Moss, former Irvine quarterback cheering him on.

“He’s elusive and a great kid too and a leader on the field,” Ricci said.

Irvine quarterback Sina Saferzadeh, in only his third start, also showed some leadership with the offense and had an 8-yard TD in the fourth quarter. He came on to start three weeks ago when Khoa Bui suffered a knee injury, Ricci said.

“He’s a dual threat, if he pulls the ball down and runs, he’s a threat,” Ricci said. “It’s like having two backs in the backfield at all times. Right now, we’re going to run with Sina, he’s our dude.”

The other back is Brandon “Figgy” Figueroa, the team’s leading rusher all year. He stepped up with two touchdown runs and almost 100 yards in rushing.

Ricci said the league title was satisfying.

“It’s as good as the rest of them, it’s always awesome,” he said. “This was a special group of seniors too and they wanted this. They said, ‘we’re going to take this home for you tonight coach’ and I believed them, they wanted it. And they went out there and took it. I’m going to miss this group, they’re a great group of kids. And the Fence Post on top of that, they wanted to go out with a bang.”

Ricci told his players he would like to see them win the outright title with a win over University next week. The Trojans could be fighting for a CIF playoff berth.

“They’re definitely improved, all year we’ve kind of been watching them progress because we knew we were going to finish their season night with them,” Ricci said.

Beckman Coach Marcello Giuliano is hoping his team (7-2, 1-1) can get back on track next Friday vs. Woodbridge at University.

“We have a huge one next week against Woodbridge,” he said. “They’re big and physical and always got athletes so it’s going to take everything we have (to win). We got to play our best.”

Giuliano said he isn’t thinking too much about his team sharing the title with Irvine.

“I think mathematically that’s true but I can’t worry about what I need other teams to do, that seems to never go well, I got to worry about what our team needs to do, and we need to heal up and get some guys back for next week. At the end of the day, we need to play better when it counts,” he said.

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PHOTOS: Irvine earns Fence Post and share of league title with comeback win over Beckman

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com