Success Is Signed, Seal’s, Delivered

Scott Seal was sitting at the kitchen table Thursday, trying to explain how he became one of the most tenacious, durable running backs in Orange County history. In searching for an answer, the Irvine senior studied the stucco on the ceiling, the linoleum at his feet and the rough spots around his fingernails, all to no avail.

It wasn’t until Seal began playing with a doll--actually, one of those plastic toy trolls with wild hair and mischievous grins--that he was able to zero in on his tough reputation.

“Giving my all for two hours, 14 weeks out of the year . . . that’s fine with me,” Seal said, tugging absent-mindedly on the troll’s neon pink hair.

“I mean, I never think about it that much . . . I like playing all out . . . I would hate to be standing on the sidelines.”

No worries there. When Irvine has the ball, Seal spends as much time on the sideline as Disney chief Michael Eisner spends in line for the Matterhorn--a couple of nanoseconds, maybe.

It’s a major reason Irvine has reached a Southern Section championship game for the second consecutive year. The Vaqueros play Newport Harbor in the Division IV final tonight at Orange Coast College.

Ask Seal about his accomplishments--in three years, he has rushed for 4,503 yards, including 1,827 this season--and he usually talks about the team. His modesty is sincere, as is his difficulty in pinpointing how or why he has come so far.

Two years ago, Seal rushed onto the field for his first varsity game . . . only to be plowed under by a panic attack. Before the game, the coaches were almost misty-eyed. The seniors were so intense. But Seal, fresh from the freshman team, was feeling a bit woozy.

“It was so weird,” he says. “To have all these people come out just to watch you play. I was like, ‘Whoa. What am I doing here?’ ”

It didn’t take long to find out.

Though he’s seldom the speediest player on the field, and never the flashiest, Seal has been among the county’s best at reading defenses and breaking for extra yards. His size (6-1, 205) isn’t intimidating, but his strength and lateral quickness have left some opponents--and teammates--in awe.

“Sometimes,” Irvine quarterback Aron Garcia says, “when I’m supposed to be running a long fake, I just stop and watch him run. I shouldn’t, but I end up doing that a lot.”

Vaquero Coach Terry Henigan says to appreciate Seal’s abilities, you have to watch him over time. Considering Henigan has called on Seal 857 times over the last three years--a 23 carries-per-game average--it’s not like you haven’t had the chance.

Seal has not missed a game since he started the season opener as a sophomore in 1990. Of those 37 games, Henigan says, Seal never missed a down offensively. Keep in mind Irvine played in the South Coast League for the last two years, meaning Seal had his share of who-am-I-where-am-I hits. Pain tolerance? Durability? He’s a steel-belted boy.

Henigan says Seal’s performance against Chino, in the first round three weeks ago, was the best of his career. Strong winds shut down Irvine’s passing attack. Seal carried the ball 42 times for 237 yards, both career bests, to lead Irvine to a 21-14 victory.

“I’ve seen Scott Seal in 37 games now,” Henigan says, “and the hardest I’ve ever seen him go was in the last 11 runs of that game, when the game was on the line.”

To this, Seal offers a shy shrug and a smile. Like any team player, he’d rather change the subject--ASAP. His CD collection? Everything from Nirvana to Three Dog Night. That fake rubber hand out on the patio? A little something he bargained for during a school auction.

Seal readily confesses to his greatest crime--writing a mean note to a teacher in sixth grade, for which he received two whacks of a paddle courtesy of the school principal--and grins about the first (and last) time he stayed up all night studying before a game. (He snoozed through Henigan’s pre-game chalk talk the next day, and then fumbled three times that night).

But steer the spotlight back to him and he seems lost as to what to say. Especially when the subject is his tenacity. He doesn’t dodge the question so much as plow right through. Much like he does when he’s facing a menacing defensive line.

“I really haven’t looked back on what I’ve done,” he says of his career. “I mean, I was fortunate they had a position for me my sophomore year. Once I got that position, I knew I was going to push myself and not blank out . . .”

“I’ve heard of a lot of people flaking out their senior years. It happens all the time with high school guys. But I knew that would never be me.”

Not as long as Irvine’s fate remains Seal’s.

Barbie Ludovise’s column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Ludovise by writing her at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, 92626 or by calling (714) 966-5847.