Irvine Stuns No. 5 Santa Margarita

After his team turned back the clock to a time when it dominated the Sea View League, Irvine football Coach Terry Henigan kept repeating himself Saturday.

Like when he said, “It’s a big win,” he then said the word big six times--once for every touchdown the Vaqueros scored in a stunning 42-18 victory over fifth-ranked Santa Margarita in front of a capacity crowd of about 3,500 at Irvine High.

The victory left Irvine, ranked eighth in the Orange County poll, in position to win its first league title since 1993, when the Vaqueros last won a section title (their third in a row).

They might repeat history if they continue to play like they did against Santa Margarita, which won the last two section titles and lost a league game for the first time since the ninth week of the 1995 season, an 18-17 loss to Corona del Mar.

Irvine improved to 7-1-1, 3-0-1 in league. Santa Margarita is 7-2, 3-1. Also in the mix is fourth-ranked Woodbridge (8-0-1, 3-0-1), which plays Santa Margarita next week.

Irvine plays Newport Harbor (6-3, 1-3), and Henigan said he’ll begin preparing for that game “by 4 a.m.” today. “I can’t sleep,” he said.

Well, he should rest easy.

Irvine scored four times on plays of 41 yards or more, matching Santa Margarita score for score.

Like, when Santa Margarita scored on its first series, going 70 yards, and Irvine answered with sophomore Dave Doomey’s 65-yard run on the Vaqueros’ first play from scrimmage.

“We should have lined up and played defense,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said. “That took away our momentum.”

Doomey scored because Irvine put four receivers on the right, and caught Santa Margarita in a shift. Doomey went left, and Irvine kept right on going.

The Vaqueros scored on three of their first four possessions as Doomey piled on the yardage and quarterback Sean Van de Merghel made key completions.

Doomey finished with 22 carries for 250 yards, including touchdown runs of 65 and 77 yards behind the strong performance of offensive linemen Alec Alessi, Dan Pursley, Garrett Van Landingham, Ethello Hall and Shawn Dickie.

Van de Merghel had plenty of time to find receivers, too. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yarder to Evan Little (who also caught one for 15 yards) to extend the lead to 28-6 opening the second half.

While Van de Merghel had time, Santa Margarita quarterback Greg Orlando was under constant duress. Still, he completed nine of 13 passes for 237 yards and one touchdown, and he scored on a halfback pass that covered 79 yards to make the score 28-12.

But Irvine came right back as Ray Kang hauled in a 41-yard pass.

Orlando matched that with a 71-yard scoring pass to Mike O’Gorman (six catches, 170 yards), but the third quarter ended with Doomey running 77 yards to make it 42-18.

“This [score] was a fluke,” Henigan said. “If you had said [beforehand] the score would be 42-18, I’d say you were silly.

“We’ve had people take potshots at us. . . . This is very, very, very satisfying.”