CHINO HILLS – Brock Johnson digs the long ball.
His receiving corps are pretty fond of it too.
Mission Viejo’s senior quarterback tossed a career-high seven touchdown passes – four coming from 50 yards or longer – and racked up 372 yards through the air as the top-seeded Diablos throttled host Chino Hills, 56-21, Friday night in the CIF-SS West Valley Division semifinals.
The Diablos 25th consecutive win sets up a rematch of the 2014 West Valley final against Vista Murrieta, which topped Rancho Cucamonga, 62-56, in a five-overtime thriller on Friday.
Mission Viejo (13-0) bested the Broncos, 21-10, last December at Angel Stadium. This year, the Diablos will be on the road at Vista Murrieta High, which will be playing in its seventh consecutive Southern Section title game.
“Pumped, just pumped,” Johnson said of heading back to the final. “Cannot wait to start getting ready for next week.”
Johnson completed 13 of 18 passes, and did not throw an incomplete pass in the second half. His five first-half touchdown passes went for 55, 51, 54, 54 and 11 yards.
Sophomore wide receiver Austin Osborne tallied 208 receiving yards and four scores on six catches. Senior Jason Lee hauled in two touchdown passes and finished with 92 yards receiving, while Brenden Schooler’s lone grab of the game resulted in a 54-yard touchdown.
“It was fun, definitely a lot of fun and it kept me warm,” the Diablos quarterback joked. “They played us a little differently than what we saw on film. They were playing straight man coverage with no free safety help against our five-receiver package, and we just took advantage of that.”
Schooler also intercepted Chino Hills quarterback Caleb Arreola five minutes into the first quarter, and returned the ball 42 yards for a touchdown, accounting for Mission Viejo’s other score in the first half. The Diablos led 42-7 at the break.
“We’ve hit people deep pretty hard all year, and just throwing the ball period,” Coach Bob Johnson said. “I think our whole team played well, and I’m really proud of them.”
The Diablos’ defensive front seven put the Huskies offense out of its comfort zone early in the opening half. Of its 15 rushing attempts in the two quarters, Chino Hills gained zero yards or lost yardage on 11 rushes.
Colin Schooler, Cade Covarrubias and Peyton Marshall each racked up several tackles behind the line of scrimmage, forcing the Huskies to pass the ball much more than they had hoped.
Both Colin and Brenden Schooler partially blocked punts in the first half, giving Mission Viejo prime field position throughout as it dominated in all three facets of the game.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
