Irvine Earns Frustrating Tie With South Torrance

Irvine High’s football team managed a touchdown in the third quarter to tie South Torrance, but the Vaqueros missed the point after and came away frustrated with a 13-13 tie Saturday night at Irvine High.

“We made just about every mistake we could, and we’re lucky, because they’re a good team and when you make that many mistakes against good teams, you should lose,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said. “They were by far the better team, that’s for sure.”

South Torrance (2-0-1) took apart Irvine’s defense as quarterback David Aupiu completed 13 of 31 passes for 285 yards.

Irvine’s Mike Ricci also had a solid game, completing 14 of 25 passes for 170 yards for the Vaqueros (2-0-1).

The Vaqueros trailed, 13-7, but Ricci connected with James Whitted on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 5:01 left in the third quarter. But the kick by Jessop Reisbeck was blocked, leaving the score tied.

The Vaqueros had another chance to take the lead early in the fourth quarter when Reisbeck attempted a 41-yard field goal, but the center snap was high and Reisbeck’s kick was blocked.

Irvine took a 7-0 lead when Ricci connected with Whitted on a nine-yard touchdown pass with 7:19 left in the first quarter.

But South Torrance tied the score, 7-7, when Aupiu hit Javier Arias with a 46-yard touchdown pass with 10:13 left in the second quarter.

Arias then caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from Aupiu with 8:43 left in the second quarter, giving the Spartans a 13-7 lead. The kick failed.

The game was delayed about 20 minutes in the first quarter after Irvine defensive end Brian Pourteous was taken off the field by ambulance. He suffered a neck injury while defending on South Torrance’s first touchdown.

According to Henigan, Pourteous should be OK.

“His sister was down here [after the game] and said he’ll be home tonight, so that’s good,” Henigan said. “He just had some numbness. That was a precautionary move and I’m glad they did it.”

Saddleback 34, Santa Ana Valley 20--Saddleback came out on top in a sloppily played game, earning its first victory of the season, at Santa Ana Stadium.

The teams combined for eight fumbles, four interceptions and 21 penalties. Saddleback quarterback Victor Ortiz led the Roadrunners (1-2), throwing four touchdown passes to four different receivers. Ortiz completed eight of 13 passes for 158 yards.

The Roadrunners took a 21-0 lead when Ortiz threw second-quarter scoring tosses to Jesse Romeo, Ismael Isaia and Emmanuel Pedroza. Pedroza caught four passes for 74 yards.

After halftime, Santa Ana quarterback Miguel Guerrero, who was 11 for 28 for 153 yards, found receiver Miguel Sanchez for a 12-yard score. Two minutes later Jose Rodriguez pounced on a blocked punt in the end zone to draw the Falcons to 21-14.

It was as close as the Falcons got as Ortiz added his fourth touchdown, a 12-yard toss to Carl Hernandez in the fourth quarter. Running back Joel Gonzalez, who rushed 25 times for 137 yards, finished the scoring for Saddleback with a 14-yard run with 2:02 left.