Notebook : Week 3 Continues to Be Unlucky for Vaqueros

Irvine has won three consecutive Southern Section football titles, but that isn’t the only pattern the Vaqueros have developed the last few years. In addition to winning almost all the time, they lose all the time in Week 3.

For the fourth consecutive year, Irvine was beaten in the third week of the season. It’s a small price to pay for a championship in Week 14, though.

“You don’t ever want to lose,” Vaqueros Coach Terry Henigan said after a 41-6 victory over Mission Viejo in Week 2. “But sometimes it can be good for you; it keeps you from being complacent. And each time we’ve lost early, we’ve been able to use it as a rallying point for the rest of the year. Still, I hope we don’t need that ‘wake-up’ call this season.”

Irvine lost to Anaheim, 20-7, Friday and dropped to 2-1.

The main reason the Vaqueros--ranked No. 3 at the time--lost was Reuben Droughns. Droughns rushed 31 times for 278 yards; in his first two games, Droughns rushed 41 times for 201 yards. In Irvine’s first two games, the Vaqueros’ defense allowed only 94 yards in 42 attempts.

“We’ve faced a lot of good running backs, but I thought he was outstanding,” said Henigan, who is in his 13th year. “We’ve been beaten by the best (over the years), and he’s right in there.”

It won’t get any easier for Irvine, who plays No. 2 Mater Dei Thursday at the Santa Ana Bowl.

“I’ve got a bunch of assistants who are mad at me,” Henigan said. “We scheduled this game late; I gave them a choice back in February, ‘We can have a bye this week or play Mater Dei.’ They voted for ‘bye’ and I went ahead and scheduled Mater Dei. We looked in Arizona, Hawaii, everywhere. And I decided to do this, which was stupid.”

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Woodbridge and University High fans observed a moment of silence Friday night for three former Woodbridge athletes killed in a recent automobile accident in Arizona. Killed in the accident were Babak Dogmetchi and Arash Ghazinor, who played basketball at Woodbridge, and Ryan Lemmon, who played baseball. As a tribute, the Woodbridge Associated Student Body announced it will plant three trees on the campus next to a memorial plaque.

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El Toro sophomore Murle Sango scored his third touchdown of the season Friday, but he would gladly give each back if his best friend, Tomas Mejia, could watch him play.

Mejia was one of four Charger cross-country runners seriously injured in an automobile accident Aug. 26. Mejia remains in a coma at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

“I think about him all the time,” Sango said. “I’m scoring all my touchdowns for him and praying that everything will turn out all right.”

Contributions to help the four families defray medical and rehabilitation costs can be made by calling El Toro High at 586-6333.

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As the final seconds ticked off the clock in Santiago’s 14-3 victory over Buena Park Thursday, Tom Sokanthong knelt and kissed the grass at Buena Park High.

Sokanthong, a senior running back, had been on the field for every one of Santiago’s 15 consecutive losses over the last three seasons.

“It felt incredible,” said Sokanthong, who led the Cavaliers with 60 yards rushing. “I went through every loss, but I knew with the new coach (Ben Haley), we’d improve. I love my team.”

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Katella’s safety in its 47-2 loss to Orange Thursday is notable if, for no other reason, to ask the question, “Is Jerry Arguello a soccer-style kicker?”

The trouble started when the ball was snapped over the head of Arguello, the Orange punter. He dashed back but slipped. Arguello then decided on another course of action: He kicked the ball off the ground but lined it into the center of the charging Katella defense. The ball bounced back past Arguello, who then kicked it out of the back of his own end zone for a safety.

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Kennedy’s makeshift one-back offense accounted for 159 yards between its two primary rushers, Charlie Marino and Darin Martineau, against Corona del Mar Thursday. The bulk of that fell to Marino (33 for 137) because Martineau was busy filling in at emergency linebacker. In the first two games, using its normal offense with Marino and Martineau sharing the running duties, they averaged a combined 111 yards.

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Quotes of the week:

* “I’m going to see those Monarchs running through my bedroom tonight.”

--Jim Walsh, Hawthorne line coach, after watching the Monarchs run wild in their 52-11 victory Friday.

* “We had 200 yards in penalties.”

--Mitch Olson, Kennedy coach, after his team was whistled nine times for 71 yards in penalties during its 14-8 victory over Corona del Mar Thursday.

* “I might not let him change back.”

--Trabuco Hills Coach Bill Barnett, after Laquent Fobbs rushed for 50 yards, caught 70 passes and scored twice against Villa Park while wearing uniform jersey No. 26 instead of his normal No. 17, which was sent out to be repaired.

* “Our job: Get the ball back!”

--Words scribbled on Santa Margarita defensive chalkboard on the sideline. The Eagles forced five turnovers in their 17-7 victory over Huntington Beach.

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Edison Coach Dave White was reduced to sitting in the stands for a half Friday at San Clemente. White, who coaches from upstairs using a headset, was going to be in the special lift Edison had rented. But the lift didn’t show until the second quarter. The Chargers beat San Clemente, 14-7, but San Clemente had a 7-0 first-quarter lead. It was tied at halftime.

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Three dots and a cloud of dust: Savanna averaged 35.7 points last year. Through three games this year, the Rebels are averaging 49, though they averaged only 30 last year against the same three opponents, Garden Grove, Katella and Cypress. . . . Sonora tight end Mark Gonzalez caught two passes for 126 yards in his first two games; Friday, he caught nine for 171 in a 28-24 loss to Garden Grove. . . . Consistency counts at Newport Harbor. The Sailors have beaten Orange, 28-10, Ocean View, 28-0, and Foothill, 28-7. . . . The city of Whittier has been tough on Bolsa Grande. Whittier La Serna beat the Matadors, 35-13, and before that, Whittier Christian pummeled them, 44-0. . . . Saddleback’s only penalty in its 28-0 victory over Santa Ana was for a kickoff that went out of bounds. Coach Jerry Witte said he could not remember the last time his team went an entire game without a penalty--and that’s a lot of games: 216 in 22 years. . . . Brea-Olinda Coach John Looney directed his team to a 28-7 victory over Troy on Friday. Looney’s father, H.L. Looney, was the principal at Troy during the mid-’70s.

Tony Altobelli, Dan Arritt, Martin Beck, Tim Burt, Michael Casey, Andy Eisner, Chris Foster, Steve Kresal, Gabe Lacques, Melanie Neff, Mike Terry and Mike Wojciechowski contributed to this story.