Irvine Has Enough Drive to Pull Out 19-13 Victory Over Woodbridge

Irvine High School ran the ball up and down the field against Woodbridge Friday night, with little opposition.

Fortunately for the Vaqueros, they also managed to cross the goal line when needed.

Irvine needed a 71-yard drive to pull out a 19-13 victory in front of 2,800 at Irvine. It was a victory that seemed assured in the first half, but one that nearly got away.

“We had some letdowns tonight in the second half,” Irvine co-head Coach Rick Curtis said. “We needed to move the ball like we did early in the game.”

By the time the Vaqueros returned to their first-half form, they had squandered a 12-0 halftime lead and trailed, 13-12.

With 7 minutes 50 seconds left, Irvine took possession on its 29-yard line and proceeded to lose 14 yards on a bad handoff. Not the best way to start a game-winning drive.

“We needed to get a break,” Curtis said.

Running back Shad Vickers, who gained 141 yards in 24 carries, provided one. He burst 19 yards up the middle on second down and the Irvine was moving forward again.

The Vaqueros (2-2) consumed 6:07 on their final drive. They ran the ball 13 consecutive plays, including a 26-yard scramble by quarterback Deron McCoy for a first down on the Woodbridge 24.

Four plays later, Randy Martin swept right, then cut inside a block by guard Brad Stammer, and scored on a eight-yard run.

“That was one great drive,” Curtis said. “We really pulled together as a team.”

Martin and Vickers took turns shredding the Warrior defense. By halftime those two had both outgained the Woodbridge offense and Irvine had a 12-0 lead.

Vickers scored twice in the second quarter on one-yard runs. But both times the Vaqueros failed on the conversion attempt.

“Woodbridge has great speed on defense and they pursue the ball really well,” Curtis said. “But that hurt them tonight. We were able to spread them out, then cut back inside for some big gains.”

Irvine’s offense ground to a halt in the third quarter, mainly because it didn’t have the ball much.

Woodbridge (2-2) opened the second half with a 16-play, 89-yard touchdown drive. Irvine appeared to stop the Warriors four times on the drive, but each time quarterback Gary Fishel came up with a big play.

The biggest was a 20-yard touchdown pass to Steve Madden.

A Vickers fumble gave the Warriors the ball on the Irvine six. Two plays later, Fishel scored on a one-yard run.

Irvine ran only four plays in the third quarter and gained only seven yards.

“We made some mistakes in the third quarter, but our biggest problem was we didn’t have the ball,” Curtis said. “Once we got, and held on to it, we were all right.”