PREP EXTRA / SATURDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : Anaheim’s Droughns Again Is Key in 20-7 Upset of Irvine : Football: Junior rushes 31 times for 278 yards and three touchdowns against third-ranked Vaqueros.

The clock ticked down to zero and Irvine Coach Terry Henigan turned to his team and yelled.

“Go over and congratulate them,” he said. “They kicked our butts.”

Nice to see Henigan doesn’t watch a game through rose-colored glasses.

Anaheim did exactly what Henigan said. The Colonists, who have a one-man attack in Reuben Droughns, knew how to use him in their 20-7 upset of No. 3 Irvine.

Droughns right. Droughns left. Droughns right up the middle.

It’s a simple game plan, and the Colonists executed it--and executed the Vaqueros.

The Anaheim junior rushed 31 times for 278 yards and three touchdowns Friday at Glover Stadium as the Colonists (3-0) made believers out of at least one Orange County power.

“We tried to gain our respect,” Droughns said. “You’ve got to admit it--everyone doubted us. No one thought we could do it.”

Especially against Irvine (2-1), which is ranked No. 3 in the State Division II rankings by Cal-Hi Sports.

“We’re just happy to be on the same field with a team of (Irvine’s) caliber,” Anaheim Coach Allen Carter said before the game. “We just hope to have a reasonable score and give a good account for ourselves.”

Irvine scored the game’s first touchdown when Scott Larsen connected with Jamie Bertolli on a 35-yard scoring pass in the first quarter.

Droughns didn’t do anything special in his first eight carries. Then on the ninth, on first and 10 from the 16, he went 59 yards. Four plays later, Droughns rushed seven yards for the score. The point-after was blocked and the Colonists trailed, 7-6.

But Droughns came back on the next drive. Beginning from the Anaheim seven, he capped a 93-yard drive by breaking three tackles and scoring from 17 yards. Rudy Herrera’s pass to Robert Droughns made it 14-7 with 35 seconds left in the first half.

Droughns had a little help on the 10 play drive--his brother, Robert, ran for 37 yards on the second play of the series.

Droughns had 172 yards at halftime, but had his best single effort ahead of him.

After Robert Droughns recovered a fumble at the Irvine 44, Reuben Droughns’ final touchdown was a 30-yard run that should be required viewing for future Anaheim tailbacks. He went right, was in the grasp of Brian Flynn five yards behind the line of scrimmage, but circled back to the left, eluding another tackler. He ran along the left sideline, then cut back right at the end. It was 20-7.

The defense got involved in the heroics, too. Irvine was forced to punt on the opening series of the second half; Larsen’s punt hit an Anaheim defender in the back--and Irvine recovered at the Colonist 26.

Irvine moved inside the 10 and had a second-and-goal situation at the two. The Vaqueros rushed three times--Russ Diehl was stopped once and Chris Austin was stopped twice, about four inches from the goal line.