Henigan’s ‘Bear’ Made Irvine Bullish on Defense

There was tempered optimism and much anticipation at Irvine High late last summer when the football season began.

Only three starters returned from a team that was 10-2-1 and reached the Southern Section Division VI semifinals.

Yet veteran Coach Terry Henigan, faced with replacing 42 players who had graduated, was sticking by his guns. This, he said, might be the most skilled group of athletes that Irvine has ever seen.

Henigan’s prediction was right on the mark and helped him earn honors as The Times’ Orange County Coach of the Year. Although the Vaqueros lost to Newport Harbor in the Division VI title game earlier this month, thwarting the school’s attempt at a fourth section title this decade, Irvine’s overachieving success this season was duly noted.

Among other things, Irvine wound up 10-3-1, losing twice to Newport Harbor--by scores of 12-10 and 19-18--and to the county’s top-ranked team, Mater Dei, which tied Long Beach Poly for the Division I title. Henigan raised his win-loss record to 126-72-5.

The Vaqueros did it with their 46 defense, known as “The Bear.” It was patterned after a similar scheme made famous by the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl champions.

Irvine had a tough game every week in the Sea View League; six of its regular-season games were decided by 10 points or less.

By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Vaqueros were on a defensive roll against some excellent running backs.

In its second-round game, a 9-7 upset of top-seeded Lakewood Mayfair, Irvine held Michael Williams--who needed only 86 yards to reach 2,000 on the season--to 69 yards in 25 carries. Williams, who came in with 45 touchdowns, didn’t score against the Vaqueros. Irvine blocked a field-goal attempt on the last play of the game to preserve the win.

In the semifinals, Loara’s Billy Chavez entered the game with 21 touchdowns and 1,755 yards, and left it with 13 more carries and two fewer yards.

In the final against Newport Harbor, Irvine held Andre Stewart, the county’s leading rusher with 2,380 yards this year, to one touchdown. The Sailors’ 19 points marked the first time in Irvine’s final four games that an opponent had scored in double digits. The loss snapped the Vaqueros’ seven-game winning streak.

“We wanted to become a little more aggressive, and we wanted to do something different that opponents don’t see as much,” Henigan said about his defensive scheme, which the Vaqueros have used the past two seasons.

Middle linebacker Mike Patterson was the player most often leading the defensive charge.

“Our defense didn’t have one real starter coming back,” said Patterson, whose brothers, John and Ryan, won section titles with Irvine on the 1991-93 teams. “We weren’t really sure what to expect. We knew we were going to be good because we had a lot of skilled athletes, but we were a little suspicious about our size and strength. But it worked out.”