Woodbridge quarterback Tate Smith gains picks up a key first down as Santa Ana’s Jesus Martinez tries to tackle him. (Photo Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
After playing a tough non-league schedule and coming up short four times, Woodbridge’s football team was determined to get into the win column.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
The Warriors did that Friday night, defeating Santa Ana 16-9 in a nonleague game at University.
“The kids played hard, the one thing throughout this whole time is we said, ‘keep on coming, keep on coming’ and they did,” said Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson. “We set out to run the ball tonight and we did. Regis Baky and Max Tipple ran the ball hard and our offensive line did a really stellar job.”
Tipple rushed for 50 yards on nine carries and Baky had 21 yards on five carries, including a 5-yard TD run midway through the third quarter which put Woodbridge ahead 10-3.
Quarterback Tate Smith, who had cleared concussion protocol after sitting out the last two weeks, provided much of the spark for the Warriors. He connected with Jacob Dube on a 5-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to put the Warriors ahead 16-3.
It was a solid night for Smith, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 119 yards and also rushed for 39 yards to lead the offense for Woodbridge (1-4).
“It’s really great, we just have to give it all to our O-line working hard,” Smith said. “We had a good week of practice, our offense was moving, and that’s what got us the game. Our defense was getting stops. Tonight, we just knew we were going to come out here and bang it out.
“I just thought, ‘I got to get some yards.’ I wrote it down on my wrist, ‘focus on more yards.’ I just wanted to get some offense going.”
“He’s nice to have back,” Gibson said of Smith.
Santa Ana (2-3) battled to the end, cutting the lead to 16-9 when quarterback Aldo Leyva hooked up with Pablo Perez on a 5-yard TD pass with 3:26 left.
The Saints were unable to recover and onside kick and Woodbridge was able to run out the clock.
Santa Ana was led by Leyva, who passed for 85 yards but a number of penalties, including personal fouls, hurt the Saints.
Santa Ana was also without its top two running backs Daimien Feliz and Miguel Vaca, who were out injured.
It was the final non-league game for Santa Ana. The Saints (2-3) have a bye next week.
“It’s two fairly even teams, we were just limping into this break,” said Santa Ana Coach Charlie TeGantvoort. “We need this break and it’s hard to have a good running game when all your running backs are out. Our guys stepped in and battled.
“The good news is that none of those games (the non-league) counted. It’s time to focus on league. We’re the defending champs and we’ve got to start practicing like it and acting like it and get ready.”
The game was tied 3-3 at halftime. Jesus Olvera made a 28-yard field goal for Santa Ana in the first quarter and in the second quarter Jakob Trestik connected on a 21-yard field goal with 55 seconds left in the first half to tie it.
Dube wound up with six catches for 53 yards for the Warriors. Daniel Avalos was Santa Ana’s leading rusher with 38 yards.
RELATED: Pre-game pictures from Santa Ana-Woodbridge
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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