SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Division VIII : Woodbridge and Yurkovich Shake Off Loss, Take On Agoura

Mike Yurkovich, Woodbridge High School middle linebacker, remembers walking dejectedly from the field after the Warriors’ 17-13 loss to Trabuco Hills 3 weeks ago.

“It was the worst feeling I’ve ever had,” Yurkovich said.

It was, for two reasons.

First, the loss cost Woodbridge a chance to win the Pacific Coast League championship outright. Instead, the Warriors tied with Trabuco Hills for first place.

“They took away one of Mike’s goals for the season even though we still had a co-championship,” Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson said.

The second reason was far less tangible. And maybe that’s why Yurkovich took it so hard.

It was only the second time in Yurkovich’s 2-year varsity career that the Warriors had lost. The other defeat was to Laguna Beach in the final regular-season game in 1987.

However, losing made Yurkovich realize that winning was not quite as easy as he’d thought.

“That loss was due to the fact that we were so used to winning,” Gibson said. “We thought we could just show up and win.”

Gibson wondered whether losing to Trabuco Hills would eventually help the team regain its focus in time to defend its Southern Section Division VIII title.

In any case, Woodbridge (11-1) has bounced back and advanced to the semifinals at Agoura (8-3-1) at 7:30 tonight.

A victory over Agoura and a victory by Trabuco Hills over Atascadero in the other semifinal tonight would give Yurkovich and his teammates another shot at beating their Pacific Coast League rivals.

If Woodbridge does beat Agoura, it’s a good bet that Yurkovich will play a key role. He is the team’s leading tackler with 118 this season, which averages out to almost 10 tackles per game.

Last week’s 34-14 victory over Santa Clara was vintage Yurkovich.

He had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown and also ran 10 yards from his fullback position for another score. And he led the Warriors’ swarming defense with yet another 10-tackle game.

Gibson calls Yurkovich a “leader by example.”

“We expected him to be a little more boisterous, but the kids seem to really follow him,” Gibson said. “He’s charismatic without being charismatic.”

Yurkovich is quiet, soft-spoken and maybe a little embarrassed by the attention he gets for his accomplishments.

Once he gets on the field, he’s an unyielding, 6-foot 200-pound roadblock.

“He has a desire to play like no other we’ve had here,” Gibson said. “If he goes into the business world with that kind of attitude, he’ll be a millionaire.”

Yurkovich has seemed to work harder and longer than his teammates, but he took a good work ethic and improved it even more this season.

After all, he knew he had to replace Jimmy Burke, the Warriors’ All-Southern Section linebacker who graduated.

Yurkovich comes to school at 6:45 a.m. 3 days a week to lift weights. Often he’s waiting outside the weight room when Gibson gets to school.

“We wondered if anybody could fill Burke’s shoes,” Gibson said. “Mike has and his work ethic is what did it for him.”

Yurkovich recently was named the Pacific Coast League’s defensive player of the year.

The praise is nice, but what Yurkovich yearns for is a victory tonight and a rematch against Trabuco Hills.

“We don’t want to go to the final and lose,” Yurkovich said. “I just hope we get another shot at them.”