Irvine Overcomes Penalties in 24-22 Win

Irvine High School had to struggle with itself and visiting San Clemente before emerging with a 24-22 penalty-plagued victory in front of a homecoming crowd of 3,500 in South Coast League play Thursday at Irvine High School.

The Vaqueros (6-2, 2-1 in the league) fell victim to 11 penalties for 111 yards and trailed at halftime, 14-10, before junior quarterback Jason Minici took charge in the second half and drove his team to a 24-14 fourth-quarter lead over the Tritons (4-4, 0-3).

San Clemente jumped to a first-half lead behind the passing of quarterback Ken Dolan.

The Tritons drove 69 yards with the opening kickoff to score on Dolan’s one-yard run, but Irvine’s Tim Meehan returned the kickoff 50 yards to set up a tying touchdown on Scott Seal’s four-yard run. San Clemente scored with 14 seconds left in the half when Morgan Bannister held on to Dolan’s 25-yard pass in the end zone just long enough for the halftime lead.

Deron McCoy’s fumble recovery set up Irvine’s go-ahead touchdown with 1 minute 17 seconds left in the third quarter on Minici’s 10-yard pass to Chris Perry.

Danny Kang’s pass interception on the Triton 34 set up the final Irvine score, a six-yard run by Seal with 1:14 remaining. San Clemente drove for a score on a 19-yard pass from Dolan to Bannister with 28 seconds left and added a two-point conversion.