Foothill gets needed victory

IRVINE - Foothill needed a spark Friday night in a Sea View League game against Woodbridge.

Sophomore Jake Dupre did just that, scoring two touchdowns to lead the Knights to their first victory of the season.

After some tough losses, the Knights could finally celebrate after a 28-17 triumph over the Warriors at Irvine High.

Woodbridge (2-4-1, 1-1) looked like it would take a 10-0 lead at halftime after Joe Roberts kicked a 36-yard field goal with 5 seconds left.

But Dupre returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to give the Knights (1-6, 1-1) some hope going into the second half.

"We were down and the team was looking down and I knew I had to return it to get everyone amped up and pumped up," Dupre said.

Dupre then caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Dupin with 3:07 left in the third quarter to put Foothill ahead, 14-10.

The Knights went ahead, 21-10, when Tanner Bryant scored from 10 yards out with 5:42 left, and Troy Tucker made it 28-10 on a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:18 remaining in the period.

"Believe it or not, we've been playing some good football, we've just been a little snake-bitten," Foothill coach Doug Case said. "We were 0-6 but every game has been close. I'm so proud of the guys."

Tucker led Foothill in rushing with 144 yards on 14 carries.

Woodbridge was solid in the first half, led by Max Neser, who took over for starting quarterback Charlie Kelley, who was out sick.

Neser completed 15 of 33 passes for 160 yards and a 20-yard TD pass to Nick Gstrein on the final play of the game.

Neser scored on a 1-yard TD run with 6:21 left in the second quarter to put the Warriors ahead, 7-0.

But Woodbridge couldn't sustain the momentum.

"I thought in the first half we played well," Woodbridge coach Rick Gibson said. "We had too many mistakes in the second half."