PREP FOOTBALL : Sea View League : Saddleback Inspired to 31-7 Win

For the past three weeks, Woodbridge High School’s football team has been inspired by a local newspaper’s prediction that the Warriors would finish last in the Sea View League and had a 60-1 chance of winning the league title.

The power of the press spurred the Warriors to three consecutive wins in the eight-team league and brought an early-season showdown Thursday night with favorite Saddleback at Irvine Stadium.

But little did Woodbridge know that Saddleback had some motivation of its own supplied Thursday morning by an article that called Woodbridge “South Orange County’s answer to Servite” after the Warriors had allowed only 28 points in six games.

“That article was posted on our locker room bulletin board all day,” said Jerry Witte, the Saddleback coach. “All we read was how great Woodbridge’s defense was.”

The superlatives for Woodbridge’s defense can be laid to rest after Saddleback exploded for 24 points in an eight-minute stretch in the fourth quarter during a 31-7 victory in front of 2,200 fans.

The victory moved Saddleback into a second-place tie with Woodbridge at 3-1 in league play, one-half game behind front-running Newport Harbor (3-0). Newport Harbor plays at Laguna Beach tonight.

Saddleback tailback Glenn Campbell was the difference in this game. The 6-foot, 200-pound senior gained 166 yards on 25 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. He came on strong in the second half, gaining 95 yards on 13 carries as the Roadrunners wore down Woodbridge.

“The yards come from Glenn’s feet, and he’s the best way to get to the end zone,” Witte said. “Glenn only had 34 yards last week because we passed so much, but he came on strong tonight.”

Woodbridge, which had posted three shutouts in six games, kept the game close for three quarters despite losing starting quarterback John Yurkovich, who suffered what was diagnosed as torn medial collateral ligaments in his left knee in the second quarter.

Yurkovich, who was not wearing knee braces, is most likely lost for the season. The Warrior offense sputtered in his absence, but defensive standouts John Evers, Jim Kocour and Dan O’Connell managed to contain Saddleback’s offense . . . at least for three quarters.

The Roadrunners, who average 320 yards per game, finally got rolling in the last quarter. Campbell scored on a 13-yard screen play from quarterback Myron Butler, placekicker Todd Maxwell booted a 38-yard field goal, Hector Santa Cruz returned an interception 46 yards for a score and Campbell wrapped up the victory with an 18-yard touchdown run.

“Our offense was stirred up after reading about Woodbridge’s defense,” Witte said. “We wanted to show we could run the ball.”

The Roadrunners proved that point, totaling 260 yards rushing.