IRVINE – It was a much happier ending Friday night for Irvine in a dramatic Pacific Coast League game against Woodbridge at Irvine.
Junior kicker Jacob Yi made sure of that by connecting on a 31-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Vaqueros to a 20-17 victory over Woodbridge.
The teams would have played an overtime period if the game had finished in a tie at the end of regulation.
Irvine (2-4-1, 1-1) overcame a 17-0 deficit in the third quarter, avenging last week’s 29-28 loss to Northwood. Yi was unable to convert a field goal late in that game.
“It’s a great feeling and a great team win,” Yi said. “This game meant a lot to us. I redeemed myself I guess.”
Quarterback Robert Rahimi had a stellar game for Irvine, passing for 154 yards and rushing for 80 yards.
Rahimi, in his second start at quarterback, scored on a 1-yard TD run with 2 minutes to play. Then he connected with his cousin, Chris Rahimi, on a 2-point conversion to tie the score at 17-17.
Robert Rahimi intercepted a pass on Woodbridge’s next drive. The Vaqueros drove from their own 22 to the Woodbridge 14-yard line to set up the winning kick.
“The thing about our guys all year long is that they never quit,” Irvine Coach Erik Terry said. “We’ve been a pretty good second-half team.”
Woodbridge (2-5, 0-2) was led by Connor McBride, who rushed for 136 yards and had touchdown runs of 5 and 51 yards, both in the first quarter.
Brendan Satchfield had a 33-yard field goal for Woodbridge with 7:19 left in the third quarter to put the Warriors ahead, 17-0.
Contact the writer: tiburt@scng.com
