SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Seal Scores Twice in 24-7 Irvine Victory

Scott Seal scored two touchdowns to lead fourth-seeded Irvine High School to a 24-7 victory over Simi Valley in the opening round of the Division II playoffs Friday night at Irvine Stadium.

Seal rushed for 67 yards in 19 carries and quarterback Jason Minici completed 14 of 23 passes for 254 yards for the Vaqueros, who improved their record to 9-2 and posted their first playoff victory in three attempts. Irvine plays Ventura in the second round next Friday.

Irvine, the South Coast League champion, took a 7-0 lead when Seal scored from one-yard out with 11 minutes 27 seconds left in the second quarter.

Dave Bilek connected on a 23-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the first half to give the Vaqueros a 10-0 lead at halftime.

The Pioneers (7-4) closed the gap to 10-7 when quarterback Eric Bennett threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Tom Herman with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

But Irvine came right back on its next drive, taking a 17-7 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Seal with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter.

Minici’s eight-yard touchdown run with 11:25 remaining in the game put Irvine ahead, 24-7.

Danny Kang was Irvine’s top receiver with five catches for 135 yards while Aron Garcia had three catches for 51 yards.

Simi Valley ‘s Bennett completed 22 of 42 passes for 185 yards, but was intercepted twice.

Doug Romines had nine catches for 95 yards for the Pioneers, while Aaron Whitley had five catches for 38 yards.

Seal, also had three catches for 36 yards and Jon Peck had two catches for 26 yards for Irvine.