Trabuco Hills pushes past El Toro

MISSION VIEJO - In a game riddled  with miscues and questionable calls, Trabuco Hills managed to hold off Sea View  League rival El Toro, 16-10, in front of a passionate crowd at Trabuco Hills High.

The Mustangs had several opportunities to establish a comfortable  lead but had difficulty. A goal-line fumble, an interception, a missed field goal and a missed extra point allowed the Chargers to stay in the game.

"We got down in the red zone and just weren't able to  capitalize," said Trabuco Hills coach Jason Negro.

"That's the thing that hurt  us the most. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot … but our guys stayed  focused and this is a good first win [in league play]."

Trabuco Hills' (3-3, 1-0) game-changing play came with less than  a minute to go before halftime. After senior Vince D'Amato's 30-yard field goal  gave El Toro (0-6, 0-1) the lead, the Mustangs  were racing to regain the lead before the half. (Full game stats.)

On the first play of their  drive, Jason JJ Mayer found Landon Maslyn racing down the side for a 79-yard  touchdown that proved to be the winner. Mayer finished 12 of 19 for 316 yards  and two touchdowns.

With the pace of the first half, it was unexpected that the score  would go unchanged by the final whistle, but there was no lack of  entertainment.

Late in the fourth quarter, after a changed touchdown call and  missed field goal by the Mustangs, the Chargers had new life with a final  drive. On fourth and five, senior Braden Olson's last gutsy quarterback keeper came up short.

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com