Troy clinches share of Iota League crown with decisive victory over Irvine

Troy’s 32 seniors celebrate with coaches during senior night Thursday. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

With both Troy and Irvine football teams undefeated in Iota League play, Thursday night’s matchup between the Warriors and the Vaqueros took on vital importance with the winner taking a step closer to a league championship. 

It turned out to be Troy’s night as the Warriors clinched a share of the league title with one week left in the regular season.

Troy’s senior quarterback Rudy Alcala guided a near perfect offensive attack throwing four touchdown passes and Ethan Mundt rushed for 191 yards and a TD to lead the Warriors to a 49-13 victory at Fullerton.

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The Warriors (8-1 and 4-0) have won five consecutive games and avenged a one-point loss to Irvine last season. The Vaqueros (6-3 and 3-1) lost for the first time in five games.

The Troy offense set the tone dominating the trenches as the Warriors rushed for 318 yards and scored on all seven of their possessions in the game. 

“This has been an eight-year blueprint,” said Troy Coach Michael Echaves. “We are playing really good football, and these guys have played well collectively and we’re hitting our stride at the right time.”

Alcala tossed TD passes of 6,10, 20 and 39 yards setting a Troy single season record for touchdown passes with 28 TD passes.   

“The record feels great; and I feel my hard work has paid off,” said Alcala. “The key to our success has been that our team is not selfish. We play as a unit.”

The Warriors went up 14-0 in the opening quarter on Kellen Watts’ 12-yard TD run and a 6-yard touchdown pass from Alcala to Vander Ploog. Ploog, a 6-6 wide receiver committed to the University of Washington, caught six passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns. Ploog also set a Troy single-season touchdown reception record with his 16^th touchdown catch.  

“Our offensive production is a testament to our hard work,” said Ploog. “It all starts with how hard we practice every day.”

Watts also had a 29-yard TD run late in the second quarter that gave the Warriors a 28-6 lead at halftime. Watts, an outside linebacker, and safety Trent Palmer also had outstanding games on defense. Watts added that ‘we are not predictable, and we are a well-balanced team’.

Irvine did manage a touchdown in the first quarter on an 8-yard TD pass from Khoa Bui to Deacon Moss, but the Vaqueros offense struggled the rest of the way.

Bui went down with a knee injury in the second quarter and did not return. Leading Vaqueros rusher Brandon Figueroa, suffering from an ankle sprain, was limited to three carries for 43 yards. In addition, starting center Ethan Knisely recently broke his fibula and is out for the season.

“We’re banged up; this will hurt for the weekend, but we have to lick our wounds and get ready for Sonora next week,” said Irvine Coach Tom Ricci. “Troy is a big physical team, and you need your starters to take them on and we didn’t have that tonight.”

Troy sealed the victory in the third quarter scoring three touchdowns. Alcala threw touchdown passes of 20 and 39 yards to Caleb Huss and Charles Rippon. Mundt also added a 1-yard TD run. Huss, back from an ankle injury, rushed for 66 yards on 10 carries.

“Our O-line and defensive line dominated and opened huge holes,” said Mundt, a junior, who had six runs of 10 yards or better in the game. Mundt displayed slick cutback skills and was effective running, and virtually unstoppable, both inside and outside throughout the game. He has rushed for 1,273 yards this season.    

Backup quarterback Sina Saferzadeh added a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring for the Vaqueros. Seamus Hoffman led Irvine with 72 yards rushing on 11 carries.  

Troy wraps up league play next week at El Toro while Irvine plays at Sonora.

Note:

—-Troy senior center Steven Logwood sang a dynamic rendition of the National Anthem prior to the game.