ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Woodbridge Handles University : Five-Minute Span in Second Half Sets Tone for 31-22 Victory

Woodbridge High School’s 31-22 nonleague victory over University Friday owed everything to a five-minute period in the second quarter when the Warriors did everything right, and the Trojans couldn’t do anything right.

Woodbridge (3-0) capitalized on University turnovers, penalties and poor punting to score 21 points late in the second quarter.

Until that point, the game had actually appeared to be in University’s control. On their first possession of the game, the Trojans (2-1) drove 84 yards and scored a touchdown on quarterback Jeff Bailey’s one-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

The Trojans led 6-0--the conversion kick failed--and they had taken more than eight minutes off the clock with an 18-yard drive. University’s top running back, David Liebke, had gained 45 yards on the opening drive alone. To a ball control team like the Trojans, things were going great. Liebke gained 111 yards on 22 carries for the game.

However, with a little more than six minutes left in the second quarter, a Woodbridge punt hit the leg of University’s Andy Roleson, Mark Rodriguez recovered the live ball for Woodbridge at the University four-yard line.

Woodbridge quarterback Eric Brougher scored on the next play with a four-yard run. Keith Boothroyd’s conversion kick put Woodbridge ahead, 7-6, with 6:01 left in the first half.

But the best--or worst for University--was still to come.

Three plays into their next possession, University turned the ball over on tight end Jason Harris’ fumble at the University 29.

On the next play, Brougher threw 29 yards to Dax Jordan for a touchdown. Boothroyd’s kick put Woodbridge ahead, 14-6, with 4:46 left in the half.

But wait, there’s more.

After a five-play possession, University had to punt from its own 19. The punt was a weak one, and a 15-yard personal foul penalty put the ball on the Trojans’ 27.

On the next play, Brougher ran 27 yards for another touchdown. Boothroyd’s kick put Woodbridge ahead 21-6 with 1:53 left in the first half.

Unfortunately, Brougher’s outstanding game came to a crashing halt when he broke his right leg early in the third quarter. Brougher had been rolling out on a pass play when he was tackled from behind.

And still, good fortune seemed to be with Woodbridge. Wide receiver Derrick Odum, on a reverse, threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jordan with 3:33 left in the third. The play was set up by, what else, a University turnover on its own 24.

University went on to score 16 points--a 9-yard run by Liebke, a 47-yard pass from Bailey to Jim Roberson and a safety late in the game--but the game’s fate had been decided in the second quarter.