MISSION VIEJO – The Mission Viejo sighs of relief could be both heard and seen when El Toro quarterback Trey Tinsley’s fourth-down pass sailed out of bounds with just over a minute remaining in the contest.
After slowing down the Chargers high-powered offense for the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Diablos defense withstood a late surge from El Toro in the last four minutes of the game and held on for a 24-17 victory Thursday night in a South Coast League game at Mission Viejo High.
With the win, Mission captured its sixth straight South Coast League title and extended its league winning streak to 29 straight games, dating back to 2008.
———————————————————————
VIDEO: Cox 3 Post Game Show: El Toro vs. Mission Viejo
———————————————————————
Having ended its regular season on an eight-game winning streak, the Diablos (8-2, 4-0) have made a compelling case to earn the top overall seed in the upcoming West Valley Division playoffs.
El Toro (6-3, 1-2) now faces a must-win situation in its Week 10 matchup with Dana Hills. The Chargers can only hope for an at-large playoff berth at this point, suffering losses to both Mission Viejo and Tesoro.
With the game tied, 10-10, at the half, the Diablos scored 14 unanswered points on a 49-yard touchdown strike from Brock Johnson to A’brae Booker-Currin and a 3-yard touchdown run from Rome Innocenzi, coming with 4:05 left in the game.
Tinsley was held in check for much of the second half, passing for only 19 yards on El Toro’s first four drives after the break.
Trailing by two touchdowns, the senior guided the offense to an 8-play, 80-yard drive in under two minutes, capped off by a Kaleb Fossum 1-yard run.
The Chargers recovered the ensuing onside kick, but were unable to advance the ball past the Mission Viejo 33-yard line. Tinsley’s fourth down heave with a minute remaining sailed out of bounds to secure the Diablos victory.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com