ORANGE — Irvine quarterback Sina Saferzadeh threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score in the Vaqueros’ 29-21 victory over Canyon in an Iota League game Thursday night at El Modena High School.
The Vaqueros (6-1, 2-0) shut out the Comanches (2-5, 0-2) in the second half.
The Comanches were trailing by eight points and were in a position to tie the score with a touchdown and 2-point conversion in the final minutes, but Irvine’s defense kept them out of the end zone.
“Our goal was to go ahead and just shut down their pass game,” Irvine coach Tom Ricci said. “Our defense, you know, started stepping up in that second half and did that.”
Saferzadeh connected with Smith Spivey for a 55-yard touchdown pass to give the Vaqueros an 8-0 lead late in the first quarter.
The senior quarterback was also Irvine’s leading rusher, gaining 92 yards on 11 carries, including a 10-yard touchdown run that gave the Vaqueros a 16-7 lead in the second quarter.
“At times when he runs, he is like a man possessed,” Ricci said. “He’s a fullback and quarterback with a cannon for an arm.”
After the Vaqueros took the lead, Canyon quarterback Alex Lundsberg threw touchdown passes of 11 and 6 yards to Noah McClary, giving the Comanches their first lead at 21-16.
Lundsberg threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns and has thrown for 2,320 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.
But the Vaqueros forced Canyon to punt on its first three possessions in the second half before keeping the Comanches from scoring a potential tying touchdown on their final drive.
“We just couldn’t make enough plays on offense in the second half,” Canyon coach Phil Hughes said.
Irvine is in a first-place tie with El Toro, which defeated Sonora, 35-21, on Thursday.
The Vaqueros take on the Chargers next week at El Toro in a contest that could factor into the final standings heading into the CIF-SS playoffs.
Irvine has won five in a row since losing to Portola, 7-0, in the second game of the season.
“Portola beating us was the best thing that could happen,” Ricci said. “Our guys took it to heart and they said ‘we’re never going to let that happen again.’ We went back to the lab and our guys were fired up.”
Canyon announced this week that it is changing its mascot from Comanches to the Cobras starting in July 2026.
The change stems from a California law prohibiting the use of Native American terms as mascots for K-12 schools and requires a change by July 1, 2026.