PHOTOS: Irvine earns third straight shutout defeating Northwood 35-0

Cameron Goods of Irvine scores his second touchdown Friday against Northwood. (Photos courtesy Jim Tomlin/For OC Sports Zone)

Irvine’s football team executed its game plan nearly to perfection Friday night against Northwood.

The Vaqueros wanted to contain the Timberwolves’ standout rusher Adam Harper and rely on their talented running back Cameron Goods.

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Both facets worked well for Irvine, which recorded a 35-0 non-league victory over Northwood at Irvine Stadium to celebrate homecoming and their third shutout in a row. Irvine is 6-0 on the season.

Harper rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns last week against Portola but was held to 23 yards on 12 carries by Irvine Friday night. Harper did not play much in the second half.

“The defense didn’t give anything up, they had a good scheme for what they were doing,” said Irvine Coach Tom Ricci. “They have a great back in Adam Harper and our goal all week was we have to stop him. If we stop him, we can win.

“But with Cameron Goods, he wanted to make a point this week, he wanted to show people that he is a back that is as good as any back in our league and I think he showed that tonight.”

Goods rushed for 215 yards on 26 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 30 and 54 yards in the first half and 10 yards in the third quarter.

“I think it was a great game, we came into it after seeing how they played against Portola, expected a pretty physical team, a pretty good team,” Goods said. “We had a really good week of practice and I think that really carried into the game. We were executing on all levels and just more of the same we hope. Like I said, if we keep executing I don’t think anybody can beat us when we’re at our best.”

Irvine broke the game open early. Jack Condon scored on an 8-yard TD run and quarterback Joseph Tierney connected with Tate Zimmerman on a 8-yard TD pass in the first quarter. The two also hooked up on a 2-point conversion to make it 14-0.

Irvine led 28-0 at halftime and continued to shut down Northwood (2-4) offensively in the second half. The Timberwolves were held to one pass completion for six yards by back-up quarterback Eugene Miyata, who is filling in for the injured starter Andrew Penrod.

Northwood Coach JC Clarke said the Timberwolves’ offensive woes couldn’t be attributed to Harper.

“We didn’t block,” he said. “Harper had no chance to get some plays going tonight. They’re a good defensive team. Their two inside backers are exceptional and the other guys are all good. They’re well coached and they play very hard.”

Tierney completed 7 of 11 passes for 71 yards while Zimmerman had three catches for 51 yards for Irvine.

“I’m really proud of how they all played, our staff did a great job of preparing all week and it was a great all-around effort,” Ricci said.

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