PREP FOOTBALL / Saturday Pullout : Diehl Carries Load; Irvine Wins, 28-6

Junior fullback Russ Diehl scored two touchdowns to lead Irvine to a 28-6 nonleague victory over University in the season-opener for both teams Friday night at Irvine High.

Irvine had a 28-0 lead after three quarters before University scored in the final minutes of the game.

Irvine, which won the Division IV title last year, won the game despite being penalized 15 times for 115 yards.

Diehl rushed for 88 yards in 16 carries and got the bulk of the work in the second half when starting fullback Sean Clark suffered a deep cut in his forehead in the closing minutes of the first half.

After being given stitches, Clark sat out the second half. But Coach Terry Henigan said the injury is not believed to be serious ad Clark is expected to be back in action Friday when Irvine plays host to Mission Viejo.

Clark rushed for 31 yards in 11 carries. Clark’s 22-yard touchdown run on the Vaqueros’ first play from scrimmage gave Irvine a 7-0 lead with 9 minutes 40 seconds left in the first quarter. The touchdown came after a 10-yard punt, which gave Irvine good field position.

Late in the first quarter, the Vaqueros’ Brian Flynn recovered a fumbled punt near midfield. Four plays later, quarterback Scott Larsen connected with Chris Austin on a 10-yard touchdown pass to give Irvine 14-0 lead.

Diehl then scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to seal the victory.

He scored on a 15-yard run with 5:34 left in the third quarter. Then he went in from one yard with four seconds left in the third quarter.