Vaquero Football History
In the beginning…
Irvine High School first opened in 1976 with Sophomores and Freshmen only. By the fall of 1977 Irvine was playing varsity football under the tutelage of Coach Chuck Sorcabal. In his four years Coach Sorcabal laid the foundation for Irvine Football including the first ever Fencepost trophy for Irvine in 1979 after defeating a heavily favored University team 10-0. Coach Sorcabal stepped down after the 1980 season and in stepped the second coach in school history, Terry Henigan.
Building Champions
Coach Terry Henigan arrived in the spring of 1981 after a four year stint as the head coach at Cypress High School. Coach Henigan built on the foundation laid by Coach Sorcabal while instilling his own disciplined, hard nosed style. The Vaqueros played great football throughout the 1980’s while competing in the very challenging South Coast League (El Toro, Mission Viejo, Capistrano Valley, Dana Hills, San Clemente and Irvine). The team made CIF Playoff appearances in 1983 and 1987 but the real turning point came with Irvine’s first ever South Coast League Championship in 1991. The Vaqueros went on to capture the CIF title in 1991 and followed that with league and CIF titles in 1992 and 1993. After a few years of .500 football the Vaqueros worked back to the top of the Sea View League in 1998 and advanced to the CIF Semifinals. The 1999 squad came in a close second to Newport Harbor in league play and went on to face the Sailors for the second time that season in the CIF Finals where they came up one point short. In 2000 history was made as the Vaqueros completed a perfect season 14-0 and earned their 4th CIF championship.
Transition time
A new century brought change with the opening of the fourth high school in Irvine. Enrollment dropped at Irvine High School but the strong willed Vaqueros continued to emphasize technique and effort which paid off in 2003 with a Sea View League championship and a CIF quarterfinals appearance. The Vaqueros were CIF playoff regulars from 2006 – 2009. With the completion of 2009 season came the retirement of Coach Terry Henigan after 29 years invested in building a program around the core values of honor, respect, reliability, commitment and team work. Coach Henigan left a legacy of hard work, discipline, preparation, hustle, effort and selflessness behind. The Irvine program he built was truly characterized by the motto “Teammates for Life.”
Teammates for Life
How do you replace a legend? It started with the selection of longtime assistant Erik Terry who shared Coach Henigan’s commitment to the core values and his philosophy of building a staff around former players who respect the traditions of Irvine Football. Coach Terry’s loyalty to the program made him the right choice to become only the third head coach in the history of the school. Coach Terry ended his 9 year run at the end of the 2018 season.
A Proud Homecoming
In February of 2019 Irvine looked to the future by digging into the past when they hired former Vaquero player and assistant coach Tom Ricci to take over. Tom’s father also coached at Irvine and all his kids are former or present Vaqueros. The future looks bright!!!
