TUSTIN – Yorba Linda won another close football game.
Vaughn Sharp’s 6-yard touchdown run with four minutes remaining got Yorba Linda a 35-31 comeback win over Tustin in a nonleague game Saturday at Tustin High.
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The Mustangs are 5-0 and No. 9 in the Orange County Top 25. They took the comeback route to win two other close games, 22-21 over Edison and 29-28 over Charter Oak.
“We’re not the biggest or fastest around,” said Yorba Linda coach Jeff Bailey. “But these guys battle.”
Tustin, No. 10 in the county rankings, lost for the first time this season, dropping to 4-1.
Yorba Linda trailed twice in the fourth quarter only to retake the lead on touchdown runs by Sharp.
Yorba Linda junior defensive back Owen Smith made an interception with 3:14 to go to seal the win.
“It’s the best feeling when you win a game like this,” said Yorba Linda senior quarterback Holden Nagin. “When no one gives up and you keep on pushing. Your offense never gives up and your defense makes the final stop.”
Tustin took a 31-28 lead on Eimesse Essis’s 5-yard touchdown run, his second touchdown run of the game, with 6:14 remaining.
With Yorba Linda starting at its 27-yard line, the Mustangs quickly traveled downfield. Nagin threw consecutive completions of 11 yards to Troy Roberts and 51 yards to Jordan Laws, who made a long run after the catch to get Yorba Linda to the Tustin 11.
Sharp then carried the ball twice, once for a 5-yard gain and then the 6-yard touchdown run that was one of his typical between-the-tackles power run.
Sharp finished with 50 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries. Nagin completed 11 of 17 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns, including a 78-yard pass to Isaiah Trujillo on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
Postgame with Yorba Linda senior quarterback Holden Nagin after a 35-31 win over Tustin, a game with a few lead changes and three TD runs by Yorba’s Vaughn Sharp…. pic.twitter.com/8ZCDhRQWV5
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) September 22, 2024
Essis, who did not play last week in a win over Fountain Valley because of a turf toe injury, rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Tustin freshman quarterback Ayden Edwards completed 14 of 26 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns.
Yorba Linda had a 21-14 lead at halftime, starting with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Mustangs scored quickly in that first quarter. On the game’s first play from scrimmage Nagin connected with Trujillo for a 78-yard scoring play. Trujillo was lined up in the backfield, took off downfield on the snap and pulled in the Nagin pass with no Tustin defender near him to run unchallenged to the end zone.
Yorba Linda made it 14-0 on a 1-yard run by Sharp with 5:14 to go in the first quarter to finish an eight-play, 75-yard drive that was aided by a facemask penalty against the Tillers.
Tustin got its first points early in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Essis. The Tillers went for two points and got them with a Taven Epps run to reduce the Yorba Linda lead to 14-8.
Edwards threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Jackson Perez. The pass for two points was incomplete, leaving the game tied 14-14.
Yorba Linda regained the lead with 2:07 left in the second quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Nagin to Jordan Laws. Nagin was on the run, lofted the ball toward the back of the end zone where Laws, a 6-4 senior, out-jumped two Yorba Linda defenders to pull in the ball. That gave the Mustangs their 21-14 halftime lead.
Tustin’s Nathan Ixta kicked a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter to trim the Tillers’ deficit to 21-17. They took a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Perez.
Sharp scored on a 9-yard run to put Yorba Linda back on top 28-24, then Essis scored on a 5-yard run to give Tustin its 31-28 lead that did not last long.
Tustin and Yorba Linda don’t play this coming week, with league play starting for both the following week.
Tustin plays its first game in the new Delta League on Oct. 4 with a home game against Cypress. Other teams in the six-team group are Capistrano Valley, El Modena, Trabuco Hills and Western.
Yorba Linda is in the new Bravo League with Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, San Juan Hills, Tesoro and Villa Park. The Mustangs are home against Villa Park on Oct. 3.
