Otott Has Big Game in Return at Irvine

He took a year off from football to concentrate on baseball, but Travis Otott came out pitching Thursday against University.

Otott, an Irvine senior, threw for 106 yards in the first quarter, and led Irvine to a 41-17 nonleague victory at home against the Trojans.

“For his first game in a year, he looked pretty good,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said in an understatement.

The hiatus, Otott said, “was probably a mistake,” though he was an All-Sea View League outfielder for the Vaqueros.

But he looked like an all-league quarterback on Thursday, completing 15 of 24 passes for 196 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns.

His passing opened the way for his talented running backs, Peter Abe, David Doomey and Godfrey Young.

Abe rushed six times for 66 yards, and scored on a five-yard carry. Doomey rushed eight times for 50 yards and scored on runs of 17 and 12 yards. Young rushed six times for 43 yards and scored on a one-yard carry, giving Irvine a 14-0 lead three minutes into the second quarter.

It’s not like Irvine capitalized on a lot of University mistakes, either. The Trojans committed only three penalties.

Young opened the scoring when he took a screen pass from Otott and scurried 59 yards on Irvine’s second series.

Otott’s other home-run pass was to Clayton Smith, who took in a 35-yard completion to cap a four-play, 55-yard drive out of the two-minute drill at the end of the first half.

That score was in response to the only momentum University had developed in the first half, ending with Zach Sherwood’s 37-yard field goal to make it 21-3 with 1:29 left in the half. Then, Otott went to work. He completed four passes in 1:06.

“It felt great to win, it felt great to be out on the field,” Otott said. “I’m really happy to be back. The team has accepted me.”

University, which lost a hard-fought game to Irvine last season, 17-7, scored on its first possession of the third quarter, with Sherwood catching Jay Nichols’ 37-yard touchdown pass. University added a final score with 3:12 left on a 74-yard drive, Steve Myers scoring from three yards.

Irvine’s defense was as impressive as Otott. University rushed 38 times for 56 yards, and Nichols completed eight of 20 passes for 98 yards. Eric Patton and Joe Bollard had interceptions, and Brian Porteous had three sacks.