Northwood coach Dean Toohey referred to the 2014 campaign as a season of firsts for his Timberwolves squad.
Under Toohey, a longtime defensive coordinator at the school now in his debut season as head coach, Northwood opened the year with a 34-6 win over Costa Mesa, the squad’s first victory in a season opener in four years.
The Timberwolves went on to beat Laguna Hills on Sept. 12, a team it had never beaten.
On Friday night, Northwood crossed another item off its to-do list, topping crosstown rival Irvine, 23-21, in a Pacific Coast League thriller. The Vaqueros had held an 8-0 series edge.
With the victory, Northwood improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league.
“I think the last three years our kids have mentally made it a bigger game,” Toohey explained of the game against Irvine. “We went into those game nervous. So our emphasis this year hasn’t been on who we’re playing, it’s been on how we’re going to execute our game plan.
“The outlook has been different and we’ve been taking care of our self first.”
Running back Josh Liu capped an 11-point comeback with his 1-yard touchdown plunge late in the fourth quarter to beat the Vaqueros.
The Timberwolves are off to their best start since 2005 when they went 12-2.
“We’ve beaten some pretty good football teams,” Toohey added. “I’m quite happy we’re coming out of these games with wins.”
A balanced offensive attack led by quarterback Brian Abel has Northwood tied atop the Pacific Coast League standings with Corona del Mar.
If the Timberwolves and Sea Kings can run the table, it would set up a de facto PCL championship game in Week 10 at Irvine High.
JUST GETTING STARTED
The North Hills and Crestview leagues are the only two leagues in the county that have yet to get underway.
That changes this week, and right out of the gate, we’ll see the favorites in the Crestview – Foothill and Villa Park – square off. The winner of Thursday’s game becomes the overwhelming league favorite.
The Spartans and the Knights bring matching four-game winning streaks into the Week 8 tilt. With two solid defenses on the field, the team that gets better play out of its first-year starting quarterback will have the edge.
Foothill’s Preston Moebius has only passed for more than 100 yards once this season, while Villa Park’s Anthony Navarro is showing signs of improvement. Over his past four games, Navarro has completed over 65 percent of his passes for more than 210 yards a game.
EMPIRE BATTLE
The top two teams in the Empire League go at it Friday when Valencia hosts Cypress in a battle of 6-1 teams.
The Tigers blew out the Centurions, 41-3, a year ago, limiting Quinten Pounds to 58 total yards on 13 touches.
Valencia dual-threat quarterback Pat Godoy was the best player on the field in the last season’s game, passing for 112 yards and running for three touchdowns and an additional 92 more yards.
The Centurions are coming off of an impressive 41-21 win against an athletic Tustin squad and will surely give Valencia a closer game than it did a year ago.
Pounds has been one of the top all-around players in the county this season. The do-it-all senior has scored at least two touchdowns every game. His five interceptions is tied for tops in the county, and he is already on the verge of going over 1,000 offensive all-purpose yards.
With Valencia being the one team that’s bottled him up in the past, it will be fun to see Pounds try to make a statement in such a high-profile game.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
