Woodbridge players and coaches including head coach Connor McBride (center) celebrate with the CIF State Regional 7-AA South plaque after defeating San Fernando Friday night. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Woodbridge’s magical post season run is still alive.
The Warrior football team, which had to battle just to reach the playoffs after an 0-7 start, will have a chance to bring home a state title, after earning the CIF Division 13 championship a week ago.
Woodbridge controlled the game from the start, used a solid defense and clutch offensive plays to defeat Los Angeles City Section champion San Fernando 13-0 Friday night at University in the CIF South Division 7-AA Bowl Game. It was Woodbridge’s second shutout of the season.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Woodbridge fans showed up in big numbers, filling the home stands at University to see Woodbridge compete in a state bowl game for the first time.
The Warriors earned the South championship with the victory and will compete for the CIF state crown next weekend against the North champion Redding Christian.
Day and location will be announced Sunday. Games will be held at Saddleback College, Buena Park or Fullerton either Friday or Saturday.
“It feels great tonight, we went out here and I told our defense we needed a big game out of them, they’re a high-powered offense and that’s exactly what we did, we had a shutout in a state regional game, it tells so much about our defense, they’ve been our cornerstone this whole year, who we’ve leaned on, who we’ve been successful with and they reallly did that,” said the Warriors first-year coach Connor McBride.
“I’m really proud of my kids for coming out here and doing the job we worked with through this whole week.”
Hunter King had the second of two Woodbridge interceptions in the final minute to seal the win for Woodbridge (7-8).
“The defense made big plays when we needed it,” McBride said.
Lucas Da Cruz had the other interception for Woodbridge, which gave the Warriors possession on the San Fernando 17-yard line late in the second quarter. Then on a second down play, Kayjahn Pitts scored on a 17-yard run to put Woodbridge ahead 13-0. Pitts was the game’s leading rusher with 118 yards on 22 carries.
Woodbridge took a 6-0 lead when quarterback Waylon Stone connected with Jaylen Webb on a 6-yard TD pass late in the first quarter. The Warriors were unsuccessful on a two-point conversion.
Woodbridge’s defense was tough all night against San Fernando (11-4). Quarterback Julian Sarzo started fast with two straight completions, but Woodbridge was stingy after that. Sarzo passed for 117 yards and running back Melvin Pineda rushed for 51 yards.
But the Tigers weren’t able to put many drives together.
McBride said that defensive end Avery Hur had another outstanding game.
Offensively, it was the trio of Pitts, Webb and Stone who led the way as they have done many times this season.
“That’s a great win right there, this is the second time this season we’ve shut somebody out,” Webb said. “It’s great that our offense and our defense is producing right now in the perfect moment. We started 0-7, it’s crazy to experience this right now. We have a chance to go state and it felt great to get a touchdown out there. It was perfect, exactly how we do it in practice.
“I’m so excited, coming to Woodbridge, I never thought something like that would happen. It’s so unreal when people around you are doubting you the whole time, and your prove them wrong, it feels 10 times better. After we beat Uni in the three overtime game, I knew something was special. I just hoped for the best and prayed for the best and God did his work.”
Pitts not only scored the key touchdown to put the Warriors ahead at halftime, he helped chew up time on the clock and keep the ball out of the Tigers hands.
“It felt good, I didn’t get to score the previous weeks but I kept my head down and stayed foused, and got into the end zone,” he said. “I was confident coming into it, I believed in my team and we’re on to state and I’m confident we can win the whole thing. It’s just another week, we got to stay focused and keep pushing ahead and see what comes next week.”
Stone was once again steady guiding the offense.
“I think we got off to a good start in the first half,” said Stone, who had three completions for 22 yards. “Our defense, Kayjahn Pitts and our O-line really sealed it for us. The plan was to win, obviously we executed it. I think our plan is to take it game by game, keep doing what we’re doing, not really change anything because we’ve won the last few games.”
Stone was thrilled he could hook up with Webb, his favorite receiver for the Warriors first score.
“It was a great job getting open by him, he kind of broke off his route and started making his way toward the sidelines and I hit him. I would have never expected this, 0-7 at the start of the season. I’m so proud of our team, the way we fought through everything, great win today for us.”
McBride, the 27-year-old head coach, was all smiles, again.
“This week, I believe it a little more,” added McBride. “There are no tears this week., which is unique for me, but it really gets me excited for next week. It meant a lot for our school. We had a lot of community out here. When you start to win, you get a lot of people out here and it really makes me happy for the community. It means the world to me when I look up there and everybody is up there.”
The Warriors opponent next week, Redding Christian (14-0) defeated Middleton 22-18 Friday night in the North Bowl game.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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