Wimbish Hits Stride as Huntington Beach Wins
A little persistence and a lot of Jonathan Wimbish kept Huntington Beach on its feet in the Sunset League race.
The Oilers initially threw away and gave away opportunities Friday night, but got stingy as time went on. They overwhelmed Fountain Valley in the second half for a 27-7 victory at Orange Coast College.
The victory tied the Oilers (4-3, 3-1) with Fountain Valley for second place, one game behind Servite. They play the Friars next Friday.
“That game wouldn’t have meant much if we hadn’t won this one,” said Wimbish, the Oilers’ senior quarterback. “Our season was these two games.”
The Oilers are halfway through it, thanks mostly to their quarterback. Wimbish was rattled early, but survived.
He completed six of nine passes for 161 yards. He threw a 78-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez in the third quarter that broke a 7-7 tie.
Wimbish also rushed for 115 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that put an exclamation mark on the victory.
“We got it going in the second half,” Wimbish said. “I was able to read their defense.”
In the first half, he seemed rather illiterate.
On the first possession, Wimbish drove the Oilers into scoring position, but had a pass intercepted on the five-yard line. In the second quarter, he had another pass picked off, this time at the eight.
Huntington Beach fullback Justin Flagg fumbled on the Fountain Valley 40 in first quarter.
“We kept getting close, then we’d make a mistake,” Wimbish said. “But I knew it was a matter of time until we scored.”
It was, but it took a fluke.
Huntington Beach appeared to be stopped again, this time on the Fountain Valley 15. Corey Austin’s 32-yard field goal attempt was blocked, but the ball bounced right to holder Levi Schuck, who went 22 yards around an open left side for a touchdown.
“That loosened us up,” Wimbish said.
Fountain Valley tied the score, 7-7, in the third quarter. But, two plays later, Wimbish found a wide-open Gonzalez 25 yards down field. He ran through an attempted tackle at the 25 and scored.
From there, the Oilers dominated.
They finished with 286 yards rushing and 447 total yards. Flagg finished with 59 yards rushing and Chris Yadrick had 58 yards, 52 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run.
Fountain Valley finished with 154 yards.
“Offense, defense and special teams, we did a number,” Coach George Pascoe said. “We put the ball in the end zone.”
Eventually, but effectively.
