Irvine Makes It a Perfect Ending

It had the makings of an instant classic. Instead, Irvine turned Friday’s Southern Section Division VI championship game to just another ho-hum rerun.

Powered by the defense that gave up a division-low 90 points in its first 13 games, the Vaqueros posted their third shutout in four playoff games with a 14-0 victory Friday over rival Newport Harbor in front of an overflow crowd of 8,000 at Orange Coast College.

With its victory, Irvine took down the defending champion, avenging last season’s 19-18 loss in the title game. It also provided the Vaqueros with their fourth section title, and first since they won three in a row from 1991-93.

The 14-0 score also matched Irvine’s 14-0 record. Newport Harbor, which finished second to Irvine in the Sea View League standings, finished 11-3. Two losses were to Irvine; the Vaqueros won, 19-14, in Week 6, the league opener.

“We just knew we had to play a regular game,” said Irvine safety Joe Bollard, whose fourth-quarter interception at the one-yard line was the second time the Vaqueros came up big at their own end. “We knew what we had to do.”

And what they had to do was stop Chris Manderino, the Sailor running back who rushed for 2,099 yards this season. In the finale, Manderino was held to 72 yards in 24 carries.

“They swarmed to the ball and made plays,” Manderino said. “It was the same type of ballgame as before. Both teams were aggressive.

“They seemed to know their responsibilities a little more, they were getting after it a little more.”

The last time they played, Manderino carried 34 times for 168 yards. This time, the Vaquero defense battered Manderino like a pinball and, on several occasions, like a jack-in-the-box, standing him up in the pile and then taking their best shots at him.

“He’s a tough guy,” said linebacker Andy Howe, who had one of Irvine’s five sacks. “We were focused on whacking him every time and putting a lot of bodies on him.”

Defensive coordinator J.C. Clark said the key to shutting down Manderino and the Sailors was to prevent him from cutting back against the flow of the defense.

“Last time he did a great job of cutting back on us, and we did a great job of blocking that,” said Clarke, who, like most of the Vaquero players, had his head shaved for the game. “You can’t stop Manderino unless you have the defensive backs that can do the job one-on-one against the receivers.”

Newport Harbor quarterback Morgan Craig completed 17 of 32 passes for 163 yards. Two passes were intercepted, the last by Chris Lamm with 1:37 left in the game.

Newport Harbor’s defense was nearly as tough. It allowed only 60 yards rushing in 32 attempts. No biggie, said running back Peter Abe.

“We’ll win running, passing, special teams, defense,” he said. “We’ll find a way.”

And that way included all of the above.

The Irvine defense recovered a fumble in the end zone in the second quarter when the ball squirted out of tight end Andy Rankin’s grasp at the one-yard line.

Three plays later, Otott connected with Eric Patton down the left sideline, Patton outjumping one defender and avoiding two others on a 77-yard touchdown pass. David Doomey, who played as a sophomore at Irvine but at Santa Margarita as a junior, kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 5 minutes 45 seconds left in the half.

Godfrey Young, who led Irvine’s rushing attack with 50 yards in 11 carries, then added the special-teams advantage to provide Irvine with some insurance.

Young, a junior, returned the second-half kickoff 43 yards, to the Newport Harbor 47. The Vaqueros incurred a 15-yard penalty, but Otott completed a 21-yard pass to Josh Short, and passes of 20 and 15 yards to Doomey. The latter was for the score, Doomey cutting back behind the defensive back to catch the lob pass and then stepping into the end zone.

Otott completed six of 16 passes for 158 yards. He also threw two interceptions.

“You have to score points any time you can,” said Jeff Brinkley, Newport Harbor’s coach. “We had opportunities to score and didn’t do it.

“Any time you get a couple of turnovers, and you have a shot to get it into the end zone, you’ve got to do it.”