One-Back Attack Helps Irvine Win

Using its one-back attack to near perfection, Irvine High School defeated Villa Park, 22-15, Friday night in a nonleague game at Irvine High.

The performance of sophomore running back Scott Seal altered Irvine’s game plan, which had been to pass more often than run. Seal, six-foot, 190 pounds, and playing in his second varsity game, rushed 30 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns and helped run time off the clock while Irvine (2-0) tried to hold off Villa Park.

“We planned to throw the ball a lot because we didn’t know if we could run a lick against them,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said.

From the beginning it was evident that Henigan’s fears were unwarranted. On the Vaqueros’ first play from scrimmage, Seal sliced through the middle for eight yards. Seal gained 44 yards in the drive that ended with a 41-yard field goal by Juan Cruz.

Villa Park was unable to stop Seal consistently. On a second-and-20 play late in the second quarter, he gained 21 yards to move the ball near midfield and helped set up a Vaquero touchdown in the final seconds of the first half for a 16-7 lead.

Seal had already scored on a 12-yard touchdown earlier in the quarter to give Irvine a 9-7 lead, and later, in the third quarter, he scored Irvine’s final touchdown, which gave the Vaqueros a 22-7 lead with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter. Except for two Villa Park penalties, only Seal advanced the ball for Irvine on the drive.

Villa Park almost got back in the game because of an Irvine error. Early in the fourth quarter, Irvine’s Jason Minici had the ball snapped over his head while attempting a punt. The ball rolled into the end zone and Minici wisely knocked the ball out of the end zone.

The safety moved Villa Park within 12 points, 22-9, and the Spartans then drove 47 yards for a touchdown that made the score 22-15 after the extra point was missed.

But Villa Park never was able to mount another significant threat.

Irvine shut down Spartan running back Ellis Williams, who gained 157 yards in 13 carries in a victory over Bolsa Grande last week but only 69 yards on 16 carries Friday.

Without a running attack, Villa Park (1-1) relied on quarterback Jason Martian , who who completed eight of 21 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown.