Mission Viejo completes its mission with win

MISSION VIEJO — Motivation for second-ranked Mission Viejo heading into Friday's night game with visiting Tesoro came in the form of back-to-back losses to the Titans.

Those setbacks are the only two losses for the Diablos in the South Coast League in the previous 10 years.

"We were pretty zeroed in on this game," Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson said. "They were the only team to beat us the last 10 years and we don't like that and nobody would."

The Diablos (7-0, 2-0) wasted little time taking out their aggression on the Titans, rolling to a 60-14 victory. Tesoro falls to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in league.

"We prepared all week and we were just fired up to go out and play," Mission Viejo quarterback Dallin McEwen said. "We had lost to them two years in a row and we wanted to come out make something happen."

Mission Viejo scored on its first three possessions and never looked back. The Diablos led 39-0 at halftime.

The defense, led by lineman Marc Millan, turned in another standout performance in the first half, scoring a pair of safeties.

Millan recorded a pair of sacks and Donny Ruggles and Ethan DeSilva each intercepted a pass.

"Our defense is insane," McEwen said. "They don't let up. They're unbeatable."

That was evident in the second quarter.

Tesoro's Cody Wittick intercepted a McEwen pass, giving the Titans the ball on the 2. On Tesoro's first play, Trevor Weis was swarmed in the backfield by the Diablos for a safety.

Tesoro's next possession also started on the 2 and again on the first play, a host of defenders, led by linebacker Zach Hoffman, forced quarterback Brett Mason to step out of bounds for a safety.

The Diablos have held four of their first six opponents to single digits. They are allowing 9.8 points a game.

"We're just animals," Millan said. "We love to fly around the ball. We wanted to stuff their run and make them pass and stop them in the passing game too."

McEwen rebounded from a tough performance last week against Capistrano Valley. He completed 10 of 17 passes for 271 yards and four touchdowns against the Titans.

"I thought he was very good tonight," Johnson said of McEwen. "He had some great throws and ran the team real well.

McEwen was one of three quarterbacks to throw touchdown passes. Tre Madden threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Joey Branker in the second and Alex Bridgford threw a 46-yard scoring pass to Bryan Keller in the fourth.

"I'm so happy with the players," Johnson said. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world with the (coaching) staff that I have. I thought the kids played outstanding.

"This is a tremendous win and we're going to keep rolling."

The Titans got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt Adam. Adam replaced Mason in the third quarter.

Mission Viejo will continue league play Friday against Aliso Niguel. Tesoro will try to avoid an 0-3 start when it plays host to San Clemente on Thursday.