Bruce's 26-yard kick split the uprights to send the Washington sideline into a frenzy with an 18-15 victory Saturday at Delmar Stadium.
"I just wanted to win the game," the 5-10 senior kicker said. "I just ignored (the pressure).
There was a lot of pressure, but I just had to ignore it and kick the ball."
The War Eagles (5-1, 3-0 District 20-4A) failed to get three punts off because of bad snaps Saturday. Another bad snap on an extra point after Washington's second touchdown was salvaged when receiver Darius Austin threw a pass to receiver Kevin Washington for a two-point conversion.
But Bruce's kick erased the poor special-teams play and gave the War Eagles their first victory over Yates (4-2, 2-1) since 2003.
"We tried to get it as close as we could for (Bruce)," Washington coach Joel North said. "I asked him 'Can you make it?
' and he said, 'Oh I can blow that one in, coach.' "
The game-winning drive was set up after Yates missed a field goal of its own, a 33-yard attempt by Jonathan Aguirre that went wide right.
Washington running back Prinston Johnson (18 carries, 72 yards) scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.
As Yates continued to struggle offensively (196 total offensive yards), Washington extended its lead 64 seconds into the second quarter when quarterback Earnest Eastland found Austin on a 55-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion pass from Austin to Washington made it 15-0.
"Coach (North) said the defense would be blitzing and we needed to make a play," Austin said.
"I told him, 'I'm like Reggie Bush; I can make anything happen,' so I made something happen."
The win gives Washington sole possession of first place in District 20-4A and a chance to control its own destiny in the district title race.
The Lions, who had 43 yards of offense in the first half, got a couple of breaks on the War Eagles' botched punt snaps.
After the first, Yates took over at the Washington 6 and got a 4-yard touchdown run by Eli Lemon (25 carries, 123 yards) to cut the lead to 15-7.
On the second botched snap, which gave the Lions possession at the Washington 15 with 1:11 remaining, the Lions were unable to get into the end zone. Facing a second-and-goal at the Washington 4 with 12 seconds remaining, quarterback Stacy Williams was sacked as time expired, and the War Eagles retained their eight-point lead at the break.
The teams combined to turn it over four times in the third quarter. Yates lost two fumbles while Washington lost one and threw an interception.
The Lions finally got their offense rolling midway through the fourth, putting together a six-play, 63-yard drive in 2:56 that ended in a 7-yard touchdown run by Lemon.
A two-point conversion pass from Williams to fullback Justin Washington tied the game at 15 with 3:35 to go in the fourth.
On the War Eagles' next possession, Eastland threw an interception to set Yates up at the Washington 42.
On the first play of Yates' drive, Dabney lost a fumble at his own 43 on a sack.
"It seemed like neither team wanted to win the game," Yates coach Clarence McKinney said.
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