PHOTOS: Irvine jumps out to big lead, captures win over crosstown rival Woodbridge

Irvine senior running back Seamus Hoffman runs for a large gain during the third quarter against Woodbridge. He ended up scoring later in the drive. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).

Both Woodbridge Coach Connor McBride and Irvine Coach Tom Ricci agree that the Warriors vs. Vaqueros football game is a city rivalry contest that both teams circle on the schedule each season and anticipate with great pride.  

Friday night at Irvine Stadium, Will Walters and Seamus Hoffman each scored two touchdowns to lead the Vaqueros to a 36-24 non-league victory over the Warriors. For Walters, it was his first two touchdowns of his high school career and he scored one on offense and one on defense.

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“It’s amazing, last year I was a defensive specialist and this year I’m getting a chance to play some on offense,” said Walters. “I love this team and I think we can take it all.”  

The Vaqueros’ victory marked the seventh consecutive win over the Warriors, a streak that spans back to 2020. 

In the opening quarter, following a 22-yard punt return by Enzo Cahoon to the Woodbridge 30-yard line, the Vaqueros (2-1) needed only one play to take an early lead.

William Bowman completed a short pass to Walters, who raced into the end zone for a touchdown from 30 yards. Gavin Furr then completed a pass to Cahoon for the 2-point conversion, giving Irvine an 8-0 lead. 

The Vaqueros struck again with three second remaining in the first quarter. This time, Walters, playing his middle linebacker position, stepped in front of a Warriors’ pass and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown, upping the Vaqueros lead to 15-0. 

Late in the second quarter, Woodbridge’s offense was on the move.

Quarterback Waylon Stone completed a short pass to Ayden Boochee who sped down the sideline 67 yards until he was caught from behind by Max Freihat at the Vaqueros 11 yard line. Freihat’s effort paid off as the Warriors had to settle for 17-yard field goal by Ryan Colley, cutting the lead to 15-3 with 3:54 left in the half. 

Irvine took the opening kickoff of the second half and promptly marched 80 yards in 12 plays, behind the punishing running of Hoffman.

Hoffman carried the ball eight times for the 71 yards and capped the drive off with a 3-yard TD run to help the Vaqueros increase their lead to 21-3 at the 5:13 mark of the third quarter.

Moments later, following a Warriors punt, Hoffman caught a pass from quarterback Ronin Scheinblum and barreled 30 yards for a touchdown, making it 29-3 with 1:13 remaining in the quarter. 

“We came out and played hard and they couldn’t handle us,” said Hoffman who rushed for 147 yards on 16 carries. 

Woodbridge scored three touchdowns in the final quarter, two on TD runs by Stone, and added another touchdown in the final minute of the game to close the gap but it wasn’t nearly enough. Irvine also added a fourth quarter touchdown when William Bowman tossed a 27-yard TD pass to Briggs Charpentier.

Stone had a huge game for Woodbridge. The sophomore quarterback completed 25 passes for 343 yards. Ryan Dumont, Lupas Viau,and Ayden Boochee combined to catch 20 passes for 278 yards for the Warriors and were impressive doing so. 

“He’s a stud,” said McBride, referring to his quarterback, Stone. “He led us to a championship last year as a freshman. I was disappointed with the score of the game, but we’re all proud of our guys. We were down by a lot of points and we kept battling and never quit.”

Ricci, the Irvine coach, saw some progress.

“Overall, we’re pleased with what we saw tonight,” said Ricci, who was Connor McBride’s football coach when McBride was in the sixth grade. “We got to see all three of our quarterbacks. We had several guys missing from the offensive line but the backups played well. Seamus had a great game. He has great vision of the field and he knows when to cut back and runs through people.”