Woodbridge’s Wyatt Is the Hero in Short Story

IRVINE —  After picking apart the Pacifica football team’s defense with short passes all night, there was little question about what Woodbridge quarterback James Wyatt was going to do with the game on the line.

A short pass, perhaps?

Wyatt was predictable but successful, throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Sansevero with 17 seconds left as Woodbridge rallied for a 13-7 victory Thursday night in the season opener for both teams at Irvine High School.

“That’s a good goal-line play for us,” Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson said. “Jacob played a great game. Pacifica was giving us a lot of short stuff, and sometimes coaches don’t want to take what they’re giving you. Jacob audibled about 20% of the time to the short stuff. He has matured a lot as a quarterback.”

Wyatt, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior, completed 17 of 28 passes for 228 yards with one interception. He had only two completions of 30 yards or more, and most were for five and six yards.

But his three fumbles--including one at Pacifica’s 21 with 3 minutes 51 seconds remaining--nearly cost the Warriors the game.

Woodbridge got the ball--and a second chance--when Pacifica muffed a punt because of a bad snap with 2:24 remaining.

The snap sailed over the head of punter Dan Murray, who retrieved the ball and threw downfield incomplete. The Mariners, who were penalized nine times for 82 yards, were whistled for an illegal man downfield, and Woodbridge got the ball at the Pacifica 29.

The Warriors drove to the Pacifica three, but a two-yard loss by Bill Atkinson and a delay-of-game penalty with 23 seconds left gave them third and three at the 10.

Then Wyatt took over. He faked a handoff, looked to his left and threw to a wide-open Sansevero at the five, and he carried it in the rest of the way for the score.

“That’s just how he (Sansevero) was supposed to be,” Wyatt said. “If I do the play-fake right, he should be wide-open.”

Reserve kicker Tim Duffy, who replaced an injured Gable Gifford in the second quarter, cut Woodbridge’s deficit to 7-6 with a 37-yard field goal with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter.