Mission Viejo dominates Santa Margarita, 48-21

Mission Viejo wide receiver Olaijah Griffin, left, gets behind Santa Margarita's Darian Fernandez and pulls in a pass for a touchdown in the first quarter of Friday night's game.
Mission Viejo's Jamari Ferrell, right, pushes away Santa Margarita's Malone Mataele as he gains big yardage in Friday night's opener.
Mission Viejo's Austin Osborne, left, can't hang onto the ball as Santa Margarita's Malone Mataele, right, is called for pass interference in the first quarter of play on Friday.
Mission Viejo's Olaijah Griffin, right, gets way out in front of the Santa Margarita defenders to make the over-the -shoulder catch for a touchdown in the first quarter of Friday's game.
Santa Margarita's Jamari Ferrell can's escape from the grasp of Mission Viejo's Colin Schooler in the first quarter of play on Friday.
Santa Margarita quarterback Richard Wagner fires a pass against Mission Viejo on Friday.
Mission Viejo's Olaijah Griffin, center, does a little dance to celebrate Mission Viejo's win over Santa Margarita on Friday.
Mission Viejo's Olaijah Griffin celebrates with teammates after winning Friday's game against Santa Margarita.
Mission Viejo's Gio Pavon, second from right, celebrates his touchdown catch against Santa Margarita with teammates Olaijah Griffin, second from left, and Austin Osborne.

By Steve Fryer | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

August 27, 2016 at 12:02 a.m.

MISSION VIEJO – They are separated by two places in the rankings. But there was a large difference between the two on the field.

Mission Viejo scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and rolled to a 48-21 win over Santa Margarita on Friday at Mission Viejo High in the opener for both.

The Diablos have won 29 in a row and have won back-to-back CIF-Southern Section championships. They are ranked No. 2 in Orange County, behind Mater Dei. Santa Margarita is No. 4.

Making his Mission Viejo debut, Matt McDonald passed for 379 yards and five touchdowns. McDonald is a senior who transferred from Mater Dei. He started in Mater Dei’s opener last season, was injured in that game and did not play for the Monarchs after that.

McDonald quickly made the most of this second chance. He completed his first eight passes, three of which went for touchdowns.

“I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for so long,” said McDonald, who had 307 passing yards at halftime. “It means a lot. We scored on our first three drives and after that it was easy.”

Junior receivers Olaijah Griffin and Austin Osborne had two touchdown receptions each. McDonald’s other touchdown pass went to Gio Pavon. McDonald added a 12-yard touchdown run.

Malone Mataele scored on kickoff returns of 97 and 94 yards for Santa Margarita. Quarterback Brendan Costello scored the other Eagles touchdown on a 2-yard run.

Santa Margarita was not able to suit up all of its players. A few of the Eagles’ expected contributors, like sophomore defensive end Mace Funa, are observing the 30-day sit-out period required of some transfers in certain situations.

Friday’s game was the Santa Margarita coaching debut of Rich Fisher, who has a lengthy college coaching background and most recently was an assistant coach at Nebraska.

It was Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson’s 316th career win in his coaching career that includes stints at Los Amigos and El Toro. The all-time Orange County football coaching wins leader is John Barnes, who compiled 321 wins mostly at Los Alamitos before retiring after the 2015 season.

Mission Viejo’s most recent loss was to Oceanside in the second game of the 2014 season.

Contact the writer: sfryer@scng.com