The Night Brea, Western Tied One On

When it was over, the Brea Olinda and Western players acted more like they had participated in a three-hour bake sale than a high school football game.

There were no high-fives. No hugs. No little dances at midfield.

It wasn’t that the players didn’t care about their Orange League opener.

It was just that all their emotion had been sapped during a breathless 21-21 tie in which Western amassed a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter, stood almost helpless as the Wildcats tied the score with three quick-strike touchdowns and then survived two late Brea threats.

“For me, it kind of felt like we lost it,” said Brea running back Kenny Washington, who helped rally his team with 195 yards rushing and two touchdowns. “It was better than losing, but we still should have won.”

Said Western Coach Toby Howell: “We were upset that we let them back in the game, but very relieved we didn’t lose. We could have just as easily lost.”

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the tie was the realization that a rematch was unlikely; neither Howell nor longtime Brea Coach Jon Looney had ever played the same team twice in one season.

It turns out no one will have to wait until 2000 to see Brea and Western duel again. The Wildcats (11-0-1) and surprising Pioneers (7-4-1) have advanced to the Southern Section Division IX semifinals, where they will meet at 7 tonight--again on Western’s home field.

There will be no possibility of a tie this time; playoff games through the semifinals go as many overtimes as it takes to produce a winner. So players on one side of the field will be whooping it up after this one’s over.

“We feel like we’d like to make a statement on that tie,” Looney said. “We have a chance to do something about it.”

Western wingback Will Ruffin isn’t so sure.

“I haven’t beaten Brea since I’ve been here at Western,” said Ruffin, a third-year varsity player, “so it will be a big thing to come out and hand them a loss.”

The Pioneers looked as if they were well on their way to handing the Wildcats a loss the first time the teams met, especially after running back David Gober scored on a 50-yard run to give Western a 21-0 lead with 9 minutes 30 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Howell thought a victory was all but assured.

“I don’t want to say we had it in the bag because they have so many weapons, but I was definitely confident that we were going to be 1-0 in league and on our way to a league championship,” he said.

His thinking changed quickly. When Brea posted its first score on a 19-yard pass from quarterback Steve Stagnaro to brother Nick, Howell became “a little nervous.”

Then, after the Pioneers went three-and-out and Washington broke a 48-yard touchdown run to make it 21-14, Howell thought, Oh, geez, hang in there.

By the time Washington tied the score with a two-yard touchdown run--with plenty of time to spare in the third quarter--Howell was flabbergasted. “It’s almost like, Am I dreaming?” he said. “Is this the same [Western] team that was out there five minutes ago?”

The teams traded punts until late in the fourth quarter, when Brea missed a long field goal. Following an interception, the Wildcats drove to the Pioneer 10-yard line, but backup quarterback Brian Woidneck, who entered after Steve Stagnaro suffered an injury earlier in the quarter, threw an interception in the end zone with 10 seconds left.

The tie had implications for both sides. Looney called it a “good motivator” for his team, which regrouped from the only blemish on its record to win the Orange League title and earn a No. 2 playoff seeding. And Western, the division’s only at-large entrant, probably wouldn’t have qualified for the playoffs without the tie.

Still, no one was satisfied.

“It’s kind of funny,” Looney said. “When they scored to make it 21-0, I would have given anything for a tie, and then at the end I was upset we didn’t win. There weren’t many guys wearing gold and green who weren’t disappointed we hadn’t won.

“But it’s one of the things you’re going to look back on and say it was one of our finest hours, considering who we did it against and how far we came from behind.”

While the tie didn’t provide any answers as to which team was better, players from both teams certainly have their opinions. Brea’s Washington uses the transitive property to make his case. Brea throttled Valencia, 41-7, while Western lost to the Tigers, 35-7.

“I hope they’re intimidated because of that,” Washington said. “I hope they look at it like they have a long night coming.”