Larsen Comes of Age for Irvine Football : High schools: Quarterback must master the waiting game before getting a chance to direct the offense.

Being a quarterback at Irvine High is an all and nothing proposition. You’re nothing on the depth chart until you’re a senior, but it usually takes all that time to learn Coach Terry Henigan’s offensive scheme.

It’s hard to argue with Henigan’s success ratio. Irvine has won three consecutive Southern Section championships--two at the Division IV level and one at Division II--with three quarterbacks. All were seniors who put in the time to get their turn.

Now the ball and Irvine’s 1994 fate rests in the hands of 17-year-old Scott Larsen, who, like predecessors Mike Phelps, Aron Garcia and Jason Minici, took his first game snaps in his final year of high school. His initiation was a good one--11 of 19 for 160 yards and one touchdown in a 28-6 stroll past University last Friday. His only interception came on the final play of the first half.

“I’d been a backup the past two years and got to see what it takes to be a starting quarterback,” said Larsen, as Irvine was preparing to meet Mission Viejo on Friday. “I learned it takes a long time to learn the offense. Now I understand what needs to be done and I feel I’m ready.”

More ready, perhaps, than his teammates or Henigan and staff first believed.

“Last year at this time the players and the coaches would have questioned whether Scott would have made it as a quarterback,” Henigan said. “There’s no question now. There might be better quarterbacks around, but if they had moved to Irvine this summer they wouldn’t have beaten out Scott Larsen. He just knows the system.”

Ah yes, the system. A one-back, four-receiver contrivance designed to spread out defenses like unfolded maps while giving the opposition few chances to shut down the Vaqueros. If they have a talented runner, like a Scott Seal or a Tony Mathis, he can see the ball 40 or more times a game. If the receivers are swift and the line can block effectively, it becomes a maddening game of who to try and neutralize.

The key, however, is the quarterback. He must know every play in Henigan’s book, and know the opposition’s defense enough that he can change the called play at the line of scrimmage if need be. Henigan puts so much faith and demands on his quarterback, only the starter runs the team in practice or the game.

“If Scott goes down hurt, we’ll be horrible,” Henigan said. “If Phelps had gone down last year, Scott would not have been able to step in.”

So far, they have thrived. Phelps, now at Oregon, passed for 1,531 yards and 15 touchdowns in the regular season. Garcia (who was a wide receiver a year before) had 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior. Minici threw for 1,584 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“A lot has to do with Henigan and the coaching,” said Phelps, a redshirt freshman. “We were definitely ready when we got our turn. It was hard to wait, but everybody has to pay their dues. And I learned as much from Aron and Jason as I did the coaches.

“I think Scott will do well; he’s a good guy, a very hard worker. Another guy along the line of quarterbacks at Irvine. He has a lot to live up to, but if any guy can, Scott can. He gets the job done. Execution is the main thing in our offense, and he can do that.”

When asked how he’s bearing up considering his life is pretty much football, studies and sleep, Larsen smiles slightly. “I knew from the get-go when I wanted to be a quarterback that it would take an extra amount of dedication and time. So it didn’t bother me; I knew the more time I put into it, the more I’d get out of it.”

Whether he can turn that into college success is a legitimate question. Most recruiters are sizing up quarterbacks in their junior seasons unless, like Phelps (6-5, 210), they are a physical specimen who would draw attention no matter when they played. Larsen could have a fabulous year, and then call it a career.

“Is he a prospect?” said Dick Lascola, owner of the Fallbrook-based Scouting Evaluation Assn. “Depends on the season he has. But you can say that about all kids. If he’s good, somebody will find out or hear about him. It would be nice if a quarterback has two years, but Steve Beuerlein’s senior year (he attended Servite and is now with the Arizona Cardinals) was his proving time like it has been been for a few of them.”

Of average athletic size (6 feet and 180 pounds), Larsen is not the type to antagonize opponents, guarantee victories or demand a shrine be built at his locker. Ask him about himself and he steers any credit to his offensive linemen, receivers and runners. He says he’s grateful his teammates believe in him.

But cloaked by his reticent nature is an analytical mind and a dead calm pulse. Irvine’s style would appear to be vulnerable to the all-out blitz, yet when University tried it in the third quarter, Larsen--who sensed the impending disaster and changed the play--stepped out the way and nearly completed an eight-yard pass. And while Larsen may not be outwardly cocky, he knows he has the team’s confidence.

Does he feel pressured to continue Irvine’s championship roll? “Oh, I imagine he does,” Henigan said. “He’s following three very good quarterbacks. But we don’t talk about it with him and we wouldn’t even think of comparing him with others. Scott’s his own quarterback and we’re happy to have him.”

Larsen, however, remains unmoved by the “four-peat” chatter at Irvine. When you’re a Vaquero quarterback, good things usually come to those who wait.

“We try to look at one game at a time,” Larsen said. “Just prepare for that team and have fun.”