Orange County Prep Football : Irvine Upends Saddleback, 15-14 : After 7-0 Halftime Lead, Vaqueros Have to Rally to Win

Terry Henigan, Irvine High School’s football coach, had been comfortable like this before and it bothered him.

It didn’t matter that defensive end Jason Keith had intercepted one pass and sacked Saddleback quarterback Scott Therien for a loss while the rest of the defense shut down the Roadrunner option so well it failed to reach midfield in the first half.

Nor did he take comfort in the fact that Jeff Jones, his own quarterback, had passed for 140 yards and a 43-yard touchdown to Tony Bolanos, giving the Vaqueros a 7-0 lead at the half. Henigan had seen this too many times before.

He almost saw it happen again before the Vaqueros rallied in the final nine seconds to upset Saddleback, 15-14, Friday night at Irvine High School.

“Against University and against Tustin we played the first half well, took a lead into the locker room, and lost both games,” Henigan said.

The Vaqueros managed to change the trend Friday.

Jones finished with with 232 yards and 2 touchdowns, the last a nine-yard game-winner to Mark Rapp.

Saddleback tied the score when Frank Larriva caught one of Therien’s passes, broke a tackle, and sprinted 70 yards for a touchdown. The Roadrunners took a 14-7 lead in the fourth as Juan Valle, held in check most of the night, scored on a 15-yard run. Carlos Zavala kicked both extra points.

After that score, only one minute and 41 seconds remained in the game.

Still, Jones was able to drive the Vaqueros downfield running quarterback keepers out of bounds. The Vaqueros were also assisted by a 15-yard penalty against Saddleback that moved the ball to the 12-yard line and only 24 seconds remained in the game.

Irvine ran to the nine, and only 19 seconds remained. A broken up pass play cost the Vaqueros six more seconds. On third down Jones found Mark Rapp in the end zone and nine seconds remained in the game. The play was reminiscent of what the Vaqueros had been doing all evening: letting their receivers outjump defenders for the ball. Bolanos was able to make 5 catches for 116 yards including the first touchdown.

The Vaqueros elected to go for the win and were successful when Jones fumbled just before the end zone and his bobble was recovered by teammate Chris Hampton.

“We were going for two points all the way,” Jones said. “The guy’s helmet just hit the football and it went into the end zone.”