ORANGE COUNTY SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS / DESERT-MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE : The Basics Work for Atascadero : Woodbridge Eliminated as Key Trick Play Doesn’t Work

Woodbridge Coach Gene Noji wishes he would have called more razzle-dazzle plays. Atascadero Coach Larry Welsh regrets the one he did call.

But despite the flashy plays, it was the basics--a strong running game and a hard-hitting defense--that enabled Atascadero to beat Woodbridge, 14-7, Friday night in the second round of the Desert-Mountain Conference playoffs at Irvine High.

“I nearly took us out of the game with one bad call and coaches just aren’t supposed to do that,” Welsh said. Welsh was second-guessing himself for calling a reverse with the Greyhounds leading, 6-0, late in the first half and threatening to score again with a first down at the Woodbridge 15-yard line.

But the Warriors’ David Townsend read the play perfectly and turned it into a 12-yard loss. Another sack by Townsend, followed by two incomplete passes, ended the threat and allowed Woodbridge to gain a psychological lift at halftime.

“That was the worst call in football,” Welsh said. “We’re a wishbone team and we should have stuck with our strength. “I apologized to our players at halftime and then I told them it would be nice if they could get me off the hook.”

Welsh didn’t feel any better in the third quarter when Woodbridge’s John Yurkovich halted another Atascadero threat with an interception in the end zone. The Warriors marched 80 yards in 11 plays to take the lead at 7-6 on a five-yard run by Eric Brougher.

But the Greyhounds, sticking with their option attack, put together a 72-yard drive of their own, with John Martin scoring on an eight-yard run. Darin Brebes passed to Nick Kaiser for the two-point conversion to lead, 14-7. Then they ended the Warriors’ chance for an upset by forcing a Townsend fumble at midfield late in the game.

It was Townsend who had the key play in the Warriors’ touchdown drive, a 35-yard halfback option pass to Derrick Odum that set up Brougher’s touchdown. It was one of three trick plays Woodbridge used in the game but the only one that paid off.

Noji wasted no time in calling the first one. On the game’s first offensive play, Brougher handed off to Townsend, received a lateral and then overthrew a wide-open receiver.

“We should have scored on that play,” Noji said. “We were hoping to get six points on the board right off the bat and judging by the score, six points would have helped.