Woodbridge Gets Its Kicks in Title Game

Steve Terwiske called it.

The Woodbridge kicker told classmates and teammates, anyone who would listen, that Friday’s Southern Section Division VI championship game would come down to him kicking a field goal.

He was right.

And he was right on the money.

Terwiske kicked a 37-yard field goal on the game’s last play to give Woodbridge a 27-24 victory over Santa Margarita before 7,000 at Cal State Fullerton.

It completed Woodbridge’s complete turnaround. Terwiske, Shane Harris, Scott Barlow and Eric Jensen all played on the Warriors’ team that two years ago didn’t win a game as part of a 25-game winless streak.

Friday, they completed an undefeated season, ending the two-year reign of Santa Margarita as division champion.

Both teams came from the Sea View League, with Woodbridge (13-0-1) sharing the league title and Santa Margarita (9-4) finishing third.

Terwiske had two other field goal attempts. He missed a 54-yarder in the second quarter with Woodbridge leading, 14-9, but his 25-yarder two plays into the fourth quarter gave Woodbridge a 24-9 lead with 11 minutes 17 seconds to go.

But Mike O’Gorman made a nice one-handed catch, stiff-armed a defender and completed an 80-yard touchdown pass from Greg Orlando on Santa Margarita’s next play from scrimmage. Matt Froehlich’s point-after cut Woodbridge’s lead to 24-16.

And the Eagles weren’t through. They became the first team this season to score three touchdowns against the Woodbridge defense by driving 96 yards, O’Gorman catching a 15-yard fade into the left corner with 1:37 remaining.

Santa Margarita, which missed a two-point conversion earlier, converted with the game on the line as Orlando threw to O’Gorman in the right corner to tie the score at 24.

But there was too much time remaining.

“I knew they had a chance,” said Orlando, who completed 12 of 22 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns. “It’s never over with time on the board. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Shane Harris returned the kickoff 37 yards, then Scott Barlow passed 16 to Oren Masserman. Harris ran for eight, and then Barlow ran twice for nine yards.

Woodbridge called time out with four seconds left to set up Terwiske.

“I was either going to be the goat or the hero,” Terwiske said.

The moment was even bigger because Terwiske had hurt his left hip in the first quarter and was removed from doing the kickoffs. He was being saved for field goals and extra points only.

“It was straight,” Terwiske said, “and that’s all I was hoping for.”

Terwiske had the confidence of his teammates, and Zach Foster, a tight end who snaps on field goals, said Harris’ contribution can’t be overlooked.

“The offense was fired up,” Foster said. “We knew with the big return, we were in this thing.

“If you get anywhere near field goal position, [Terwiske] has the leg to put it in.”

Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan knew as much.

“We talked about whether to pooch it or kick it deep,” Hartigan said. “We knew [Terwiske’s] range and wanted to kick it deep but we didn’t do a good job on coverage.”

When Terwiske’s field goal cleared the crossbar, he was plowed under by a sea of teammates and coaches.

Santa Margarita outgained Woodbridge, 405-368.

O’Gorman caught seven passes for 218 yards and scoring receptions of 76, 80 and 15 yards.

Woodbridge’s Barlow completed 11 of 19 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown, to Ryan Rommelfanger.

Harris rushed 14 times for 152 yards and a 60-yard touchdown run that gave Woodbridge a 21-9 lead.

“It started getting a little scary,” said Harris, a junior who called his performance his best ever. “I’ll never play in a bigger game than this.”