Delia Stone hugs Laney Brucker as Woodbridge players celebrate in the end zone. (Photos courtesy John Luciano, For OC Sports Zone).
Woodbridge rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to defeat Orange Lutheran 26-20, in overtime Wednesday evening in the CIF Open Division Girls Flag Football quarterfinal playoffs at Orange Lutheran.
The No. 6-seeded Warriors move on to face No. 2-seeded Newport Harbor in the semifinals Saturday at noon at Newport Harbor with the winner taking on the winner of the JSerra-Huntington Beach semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 7 in the final at Huntington Beach.
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It’s the first time Woodbridge has competed in the open division, the highest division of the CIF playoffs. The victory avenged a regular season loss to Orange Lutheran (17-5).
“I was proud of the way our team responded when the game was not going our way,” Woodbridge Coach Mark Thompson said Thursday. “We went into halftime trailing Orange Lutheran 13–0, but our players stayed together and believed we could turn it around.
“Our defense made several important fourth-down stops in the second half, giving our offense chances to respond. We battled back to take a 20–13 lead with a few minutes remaining. Orange Lutheran scored with a minute left to tie the game 20-20.”
In the overtime, Woodbridge got the ball first and quarterback Delia Stone ran the ball in for a TD on second down, Thompson said. Orange Lutheran tried to come back but a sack by Izzy Loui and two flag pulls by Laney Brucker forced a fourth and seven.
Woodbridge’s Lauren Gagnier came up with an interception to seal the victory.
Stone passed for 166 yards and a touchdown rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Loghan Everett caught eight passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. Stone, Synda Hall and Lauren each had an interception, and Brucker led the defense with 12 flag pulls, according to Thompson.
“The statistics tell part of the story, but our team’s resilience tells the rest,” the coach said. “We faced a tough deficit, answered with a strong second half, and made the plays we needed in overtime. I’m proud of the way our players trusted each other and kept fighting until the final play.”
Orange Lutheran’s first year coach Dennis Hester praised the effort of Woodbridge.
“Woodbridge deserved to win that game, so all the credit goes to them,” he said Thursday. “They never backed down and are an extremely talented team. We’ve really enjoyed both matchups against them this season, and I hope we get the opportunity to play them again next year. We seem to find ourselves in some incredibly close and exciting games, and it’s been a lot of fun competing against them.
“As for us, I thought we played with as much effort and passion as we have all season. Unfortunately, a few mistakes here and there cost us, and in the playoffs, you have to do a better job of limiting those mistakes. We just didn’t do that well enough in this particular game.”
Hester praised the accomplishments of his team.
“These girls have proven that Orange Lutheran flag football is here to stay,” he said. “They’ve shown everyone that the talent in this program runs deep and that we can compete and be successful no matter what challenges are thrown our way. Not many people expected us to accomplish what we did this season, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we achieved as a team.
“The future of this program is incredibly bright, especially with so many players returning. I’m excited to have an offseason to continue developing, improving, and building on everything we accomplished this year.”
Quarterback Alyssa McClure led the Lancers completing 27 of 43 for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
Ava Harrison, Brynn Wessel and Mackenzie Reiland caught touchdown passes, Summer Mele led the team with eight flag pulls and Mele, Capri Cuneo, and Wessel each recorded an interception.
Woodbridge will be trying to avenge another regular season loss in the semifinals.
Newport Harbor defeated Woodbridge 20-7 on Aug. 24. The Sailors (22-4) defeated Westlake 14-7 Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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