Fryer breaks down Week 3's impact

Servite had more speed on defense and was more physical in the fourth quarter than its opponent.

But there were a couple of flaws for the Friars in their 29-17 victory over Edison.

They had back-to-back delay-of-game penalties that knocked them out of the red zone when they were driving for a touchdown that could have put the game away.

They had unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one that gave Edison a first down after an Edison third-down play failed to get a first down. Another made a short extra-point kick a long one, and the kick missed. You don’t want to lose by one point, finish regulation tied and go into overtime, because of an unsportsmanlike penalty.

Those are not favorable developments for a program that prides itself on precision and poise. But they can be easily fixed, and will need to be when the Friars come off of next week’s bye to play Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in two weeks and Mater Dei in a Trinity League opener the week after.

Servite went after Edison quarterback Matt Viles, as expected. Viles was able to counter the blitz with a couple of screen passes that were productive. But the Friars were able force him to throw three interceptions, with Michael Marcoux getting two and Bijon Samoodi the other.

Going into Friday’s game, Viles had thrown only two inceptions on 58 passes over three games.

Mission Viejo was No. 1 in last week’s media poll. I voted for Servite. The Friars lost by only one to Crespi of Encino, ranked No. 5 in California, and a one-point loss on the road to Crespi was superior, in evaluating teams’ quality, to Mission’s 38-14 road victory over La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad, which was No. 22 in California when it played Mission.

Mission Viejo scored an impressive 42-20 victory over Vista. That will keep the Diablos at No. 1 on the majority of ballots from the 11 media members who vote on the Orange County Top 10.

The reasons to vote Mission Viejo No. 1 are fine reasons, but in this opinion Servite would win if Servite were to play Mission Viejo; their only chance to play each other would be in the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.

Records fell at that Mission Viejo victory. Quarterback Allan Bridgford’s 442 passing yards set the school single-game record, and Kevin Chandler’s 235 receiving yards set the school single-game record.

A La Habra player had a big game, too, and it was not Ronnie Hillman. The offensive star in the Highlanders’ 52-7 shellacking of Westminster was running back Josh Quezada, who scored two touchdowns rushing, two receiving and one on a kickoff return.

Fullerton beat Western, 21-13. Your Frankly Fryer pal picked Western to win, thinking that the difference between these two running teams might be Western’s ability to mix in a big pass or two like it did the previous week against Canyon. Alas, the Pioneers were 0 for 8 on pass attempts.

Foothill beat Santa Margarita last week, but suffered no letdown as the Knights beat Canyon, 27-14. Avoiding letdowns after a big victory is a challenge, as USC coach Pete Carroll was reminded this week.

JSerra showed continued signs of improvement with a 22-0 victory over El Modena. JSerra remains unlikely to win a Trinity League game, but shutting down El Modena is a significant step.

Segerstrom is growing, too. The Jaguars beat Santiago, 49-29, unthinkable last year and the year before.

And St. Margaret’s cleared perhaps its most challenging hurdle on its way to setting the county record for consecutive victories. The Tartans beat Whittier Christian, 42-26.

The county record 41, set by Mission Viejo five years ago, would fall if St. Margaret’s wins another CIF-Southern Section championship. The Tartans have seven regular-season games remaining, and a victory in the East Valley Division final would be a fourth playoff triumph this year.

This was an interesting week in Orange County football, and next week could be just as fun. Mater Dei will play Edison, La Habra steps up and plays Los Alamitos, Tesoro plays El Dorado, and Dana Hills plays Newport Harbor.

Big games, all.

Contact the writer: sfyrer@ocregister.com