IRVINE – Northwood’s football team had many reasons to celebrate Friday night after a thrilling 23-21 comeback victory over Irvine in a Pacific Coast League game at Irvine.
The Timberwolves ended an eight-game losing streak to the Vaqueros, who lead the series, 8-1.
Josh Liu scored from 1 yard out on a third-and-goal play with 25 seconds left to put the Timberwolves ahead. Northwood was unable to convert the kick.
“We knew if we gave the ball to Josh a couple times, he was going to score,” said Northwood coach Dean Toohey. “We’ve had a bunch of firsts this year and our kids just believe and they kept playing.”
Northwood (6-1, 2-0) got into scoring position when quarterback Brian Abel hit Garrett O’Connor on a 23-yard play that advanced the ball to the Irvine 4-yard line.
Irvine (4-3, 0-2) took a 21-17 lead when quarterback Mikey Filia connected with Josh Gray on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 4:28 left.
Spencer Tran put Northwood ahead, 17-14, when he scored from 3 yards out early in the fourth quarter.
Irvine led, 14-3, at halftime behind the strong play of Filia. But Northwood, behind Abel, began its comeback in the second half.
Filia had his best game, passing for 288 yards, while Abel passed for 168 yards.
“This is my fifth year as head coach and four of the five years it comes down to the last couple plays of the game,” Irvine coach Erik Terry said.
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com
