PREP EXTRA: ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Irvine Offense Rolls Over Mission Viejo

It was tough to tell which football team was more upset this week.

Was it Irvine High, after losing to University for the first time in eight seasons? Or was it Mission Viejo, after losing last year’s starting quarterback, Austin Moherman, as a transfer to L.A. Wilson, only to see him transfer back to South Coast League rival Capistrano Valley.

Irvine took out its frustrations on Mission Viejo Friday night, scoring 19 points in the second and third quarters for a 22-0 victory before 2,500 at Mission Viejo High.

Both teams displayed strong defenses Friday night, but Irvine had the more productive offense.

Irvine (1-1) amassed 248 yards total offense and didn’t punt until the final two minutes. The Vaqueros’ longest play from scrimmage was a 22-yard run by I-back Russ Diehl. Diehl finished with 91 yards in 17 carries. And Sevan Setian kicked field goals of 37, 30 and 51 yards.

Irvine Coach Terry Henigan denied his team played angry.

“There are times you’re going to lose,” Henigan said. “We hate to lose but I wouldn’t say we were mad. The defense played well. They played with lots of emotion. The offense struggled at times but there’s a lot of potential there. I’m happy with the win.”

The Diablos (0-2) began the game with an eight minute, 17-play drive that stalled on the Vaqueros’ 49. After that, Irvine held Mission Viejo without a first down until two minutes left in the third quarter.

Mission Viejo only threatened once, after a fumble recovery early in the fourth quarter. But Jake McDonald, Eric Holcomb and Seth Hink stopped the Diablos at the Irvine 10 to preserve the shutout. Mission rushed for just 37 yards and passed for 78.

With Irvine leading, 6-0, Vaquero quarterback Jared Flint engineered an 11-play, 60 yard drive, with Flint scoring untouched from 4 yards for a 12-0 halftime lead.