El Toro hangs on for victory over Northwood

IRVINE - El Toro won its first game of the 2008 season Friday night, but just barely.

The Chargers saw a 25-point fourth-quarter lead nearly evaporate before holding on to beat Northwood, 28-25, in a Sea View League game at Irvine  High.

It wasn't decided until Kyle Smith corralled Northwood's onside  kick attempt with 20 seconds left.

The Chargers (1-6, 1-1) went up big thanks to their defense. An  interception, two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt for a touchdown led to a  21-0 lead in the first half.

Chris Bokosky, who already had an interception, charged up the  middle, blocked a punt and then recovered the ball in the end zone. El Toro led, 14-0, with 9:40 left in the first half.

El Toro then recovered a Northwood fumble on the 6-yard line and two plays later Braden Olson found  Andrew Wellman open for a 6-yard touchdown. It was one of three touchdowns for  Wellman.

Northwood was down, 28-3, early in the fourth quarter before  rallying with 22 points.

Bryan Pione returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown with  3:58 left to cut the lead to 28-17.

Northwood (2-5, 0-2) got the ball back with 27 seconds to go, and Kyle Beane hit Andrew Stephenson for a 15-yard touchdown strike to make it a  28-25 game. But the Timberwolves ran out of time.

Steven Cox caught 12 passes for 135 yards for Northwood and Jesse  Bueno caught five passes for 107 yards for the Chargers.

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com