Huntington Beach takes charge in late going

IRVINE - Huntington Beach took care of business Thursday night.

The Oilers played a strong second half to beat Woodbridge, 38-24, at Irvine High and earn a CIF-SS playoff berth.

Huntington Beach (6-4, 3-2) clinched third place in the Sea View League.

Huntington Beach trailed a spirited Woodbridge team, which still had a shot at the postseason with a victory, 17-10, after the Warriors’ Joe Roberts made a 44-yard field goal with 3:08 left in the first half.

But the Oilers answered a minute later with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Sean Guite to Cameron Pizzica.

Huntington Beach scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to go up, 31-17.

Kaller Roemer turned a Guite screen pass into a 78-yard touchdown and Shawn LeMaster hauled in a Guite pass for a 10-yard touchdown with 3:21 left in the third quarter.

“They were a little disappointed with their first-half performance and they made up for it in the second half,” Huntington Beach coach Eric Lo said. “Kaller Roemer made some really big plays for us, and Sean Guite rebounded and played much better. They all showed a lot of heart.”

Woodbridge (2-7-1, 1-4) made it a 31-24 game when Charlie Kelley found Nick Gstrein open for an 8-yard touchdown pass.

Huntington Beach put the game away for good, however, with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by a 9-yard touchdown run by Nolan Biegel.

The drive ate up more than seven minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter. Even more impressive was that the Oilers, known for their high-powered throwing attack, did it on the ground. The final 16 plays of the drive were runs. Jack Dilbeck had 161 yards rushing and Roemer finished with 171 yards receiving for the Oilers.