Segerstrom running back Eddie Anuu scores a touchdown Friday night. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).
Segerstrom’s football team blocked a point after conversion kick that would have tied the game in the final minutes and held on for a stunning 21-20 upset victory over Irvine in a hard-fought Foxtrot League opener Friday night.
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Irvine cut the Segerstrom lead to 21-20 when Seamus Hoffman scored on a 33-yard TD run with 1:19 left in the game. Irvine (4-2, 0-1) opted to go for two points and was successful on a pass play. But the play was negated when the officials called Irvine for an illegal man downfield.
Irvine then went for what would have been the tying point after kick and possibly send the game into overtime, but the kick was blocked. Segerstrom was able to chew up most of the clock to notch the win.
“Our last time on the field (a 42-0 loss to Troy) we didn’t play very well,” said Segerstrom Coach Joseph Tagaloa. “But our boys answered the call tonight. They came out here and they fought, they played all four quarters we asked of them, they competed on every snap. Just really proud of their overall effort tonight.
“Our guys are going to battle, it doesn’t matter who lines up against us. We’re going to come out here and give it our all. Tonight, we were able to get a win. It was a tremendous effort by everyone.”
Adrian Cervantes scored his second touchdown of the night on a 4-yard run with 2:20 left in the game, but Irvine responded quickly with a long kickoff return that put the ball on the Jaguars 35-yard line, setting up the TD run by Hoffman, who had a strong second half and finished 113 yards on 19 carries.
Irvine was plagued by two interceptions and costly penalties, but still had a chance to come away with the win.
“It’s a tough one to lose,” said Irvine Coach Tom Ricci. “Your offense, it’s like, we want to win, we don’t want to tie. We had that set up, it’s frustrating, but they played a great game. It was a heckuva football game to watch. Physical up front, they’re a tough football team and hats off to them.
“Coach Tagaloa does a great job, we made too many mistakes to pull that one out, that’s our problem, we got to go back to the drawing board and fix mistakes. We were right there, I couldn’t have asked for more than that. We went down when we needed to with a minute to go with a score, two-point conversion, everything was going our way.”
Segerstrom was led by running back Eddie Anuu, who rushed for 141 yards on 18 carries and scored on a 14-yard TD in the first quarter to put the Jaguars ahead 7-6.
Cervantes rushed for 82 yards on 12 carries and quarterback Noah Martinez guided the offense well, completing 5 of 9 for 57 yards and a touchdown pass.
Irvine’s sophomore quarterback William Bowman had an excellent first half, passing for 169 yards. But Segerstrom’s defense adjusted in the second half and the Vaqueros weren’t able to pick up any additional yards. Bowman completed nine passes and threw two interceptions.
Bowman’s 1-yard TD in the first quarter put Irvine ahead 6-0. The Vaqueros missed the point after.
After Anuu’s TD put Segerstrom ahead by one, the Jaguars extended their to 14-6 when Martinez connected with Cervantes on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 1:16 left in the first half. Joseph Garcia set up the score with an interception.
But Irvine responded on the next series. Bowman connected with Enzo Cahoon on a 54-yard touchdown pass and Hoffman tied the game running for the two-point conversion to make it 14-14 at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Segerstrom came up with the big plays to win it, including the go-ahead score by Cervantes.
“I got the ball and my line really just did all the work,” said Cervantes. “They made a great gap for me and I was able to execute and get the touchdown. It’s really big, a lot of people doubted us coming into this game and we proved them all wrong.”
“This means a lot,” added Anuu. “Especially since everyone has been putting us down, everyone predicted we were going to lose this game and it feels really good to prove them wrong and punch them {Irvine} in the mouth. Luckily, our line was driving everyone off the ball, our offense was able to make plays when needed and our defense was able to stop the other team when needed.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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