SEA VIEW LEAGUE FOOTBALL : New League, Another Title for Irvine

NEWPORT BEACH —  Irvine might be in a new league, but in its regular-season finale Thursday night at Newport Harbor High School, it looked like the same old Vaquero team that won a Southern Section divisional championship last year.

The Vaqueros combined a balanced offense and clutch defense to rip Corona del Mar, 32-14, and sweep through its Sea View League schedule undefeated.

Irvine (9-1, 7-0 in league) won its second consecutive league championship--last year in the South Coast and this year in the Sea View. Corona del Mar (6-3-1, 3-3-1) finished fourth in the league, but stands a good chance of getting a playoff berth.

Vaquero quarterback Aron Garcia led the balanced attack, completing 11 of 15 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Scott Seal led the Vaquero running game that totaled 215 yards with 128 yards in 20 carries, including a 61-yard first quarter touchdown run.

“Garcia is something else,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said. “He hasn’t played quarterback since his freshman year, but he’s been dynamite for us (this season). He gets us out of bad plays and has been improving every week.”

Irvine’s defense gave Garcia a chance to pull away when it stopped the Sea Kings with a second-quarter, goal-line stand when Matt Meehan recovered a fumbled snap from center on the Irvine three. With the Vaqueros clinging to a 6-3 lead, Garcia completed five of five passes to drive 97 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown, on a 35-yard pass to Todd Thomas.

Corona del Mar’s J.R. Walz returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards to set up Tanner Rupp’s second field goal, a 22-yarder with 43 seconds before intermission to cut the Vaquero lead to 12-6.

Irvine broke the game open in the third quarter with two touchdowns. One came on an 80-yard drive with Garcia hitting Thomas again for the score from the 14. Ryan Patterson intercepted Corona del Mar quarterback Matt Evans on the Sea King 44. Garcia then hit running back Tony Mathis for a 44-yard touchdown pass and a 25-6 lead.