MISSION VIEJO – The last game before South Coast League play opens next week was decidedly a mixed bag for Mission Viejo.
When the Diablos were good, they looked very good, but when they were bad, they looked like a completely different team in a 31-11 nonleague win over visiting Chaparral of Temecula on Friday night.
At times, the quick-striking Diablos offense made it look easy, including three touchdown passes by junior quarterback Brock Johnson of 37, 18 and 58 yards. The first, to wide receiver Cole Young, came on Mission Viejo’s second play from scrimmage and the last, to A’brae Booker-Currin, capped the Diablos’ scoring early in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 31-3.
Conversely, the Diablos (4-1) struggled to move the ball in other moments without the big plays and although the Mission Viejo defense largely held down Chaparral (1-4), it sometimes had trouble getting off the field on third and fourth downs.
“Isn’t that high school football?” Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson said. “That’s high school kids. It can drive you crazy sometimes, but we’re very happy. That’s a good score against a team that’s good.”
Brock Johnson finished with 191 yards on 7-of-15 passing and junior running back Jordan Loya paced the Diablos’ rushing attack with 61 yards and a touchdown run on 12 carries.
Chaparral did its best to play keep-away from Mission Viejo early, as the Diablos ran only four plays in the first quarter. But the Pumas lost starting quarterback Austin Reza to a foot injury in the second quarter and were hamstrung the rest of the way.
Chaparral played four different quarterbacks in the game, finished collectively with only 20 passing yards and rushed for 204 yards. Senior running back William Riley, who also filled in at quarterback in the second half, ran for a game-high 79 yards on 27 carries.
Chaparral coach Ryan Tukua said Reza had a broken foot and would likely miss the rest of the season. The Pumas were also missing three Division I college recruits because of injuries and other issues.
“We only have one quarterback, as you could tell, so we’re kinda in a very odd situation, but I think we played hard,” Tukua said. “We competed and gave it our best effort, but we were obviously out-manned.”
Another bright spot was running back Austin Bacher, who played in Chaparral’s junior varsity game Thursday. The sophomore ran for 69 yards, all in the fourth quarter.
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
