Mission Viejo 31 - Eagles 28
Mission Viejo defeats Santa Margarita 31-28
MISSION VIEJO, CA., November 26, 2010 – If USC Coach Lane Kiffin needs someone to run the wildcat offense next season, Tre Madden is the man.
The future Trojan is a standout linebacker at unbeaten Mission Viejo, but when he plays quarterback in the wildcat formation, he produces Michael Vick-like results.
Madden’s athleticism was on display from start to finish Friday night at Saddleback College, and Santa Margarita had no answer other than to hope Mission Viejo Coach Bob Johnson didn’t use Madden on every offensive play.
In the end, the unbeaten Diablos held on for a 31-28 victory. Mission Viejo (12-0), the No. 1-seeded team, will take on Santa Ana Mater Dei in the semifinals. Mater Dei defeated Tesoro, 17-0.
What’s intriguing is that Madden shouldn’t be considered only a wildcat quarterback. He made a 26-yard pass completion in the fourth quarter, rolling right after getting the snap under center, to set up a Dallas Kessman two-yard touchdown run with 8:51 left that gave the Diablos a 24-20 lead.
Madden also had pass completions of 27 and 22 yards. He ran for 73 yards in eight carries.
“It’s so fun seeing him on offense,” said running back Jahleel Pinner, who has watched Madden since he was 10. “You really don’t know what he’s going to do.”
Kessman had two fourth-quarter touchdown runs and finished with 145 yards rushing in 21 carries. Defensively, Mission Viejo got two sacks apiece from Andrew McPeak and Mitch Melugin.
Mission Viejo opened a 17-7 halftime lead on a 23-yard field goal by Zachary Christensen, a one-yard touchdown run by Pinner and Madden’s eight-yard touchdown run.
But the problem for Santa Margarita was dealing with the ability of Madden to improvise at the quarterback spot. He left no doubt that he has fully recovered from a fractured toe that caused him to miss four games earlier this season.
Santa Margarita (9-3) gave Mission Viejo a scare in the second half with its refusal to quit. Quarterback Adam Young connected with Logan Sweet for a 49-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Then Young scored on a three-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter, putting the Eagles on top, 20-17.
Mission Viejo responded with the power running of Kessman, combined with Madden’s occasional intervention. But Sweet’s 16-yard touchdown reception with 2:24 left and Young’s two-point conversion run brought the Eagles to within 31-28.
Then Mission Viejo ran out the clock. Alex Bridgford picked up a decisive first down with an eight-yard run.
In two years, I haven’t seen a team yet stop Madden consistently out of the wildcat formation, with the exception of Anaheim Servite in last season’s Pac-5 semifinal, and it looks pretty certain to me that Servite and Mission Viejo are headed on a collision course to meet in the Pac-5 final on Dec. 11 at Angel Stadium. Servite cruised to a 40-16 quarterfinal win over Encino Crespi.
Santa Margarita Coach Harry Welch came in having won 22 consecutive playoff games from his days coaching at Canyon Country Canyon and San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret’s.
| Mission Viejo | 10 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
MV – Pinner 1 run (Christensen kick)
MV – Christensen 23 FG
SM – Thomson 2 run (McGrory kick)
MV – Madden 8 run (Christensen kick)
SM – Sweet 49 pas from Young (McGrory kick)
SM – Young 3 run (Kick failed)
MV – Kessman 1 run (Christensen kick)
MV – Kessman 1 run (Christensen kick)
SM – Sweet 16 pass from Young (Young run)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: MV - Kessman 22-152, Madden 8-77; SM - Thomson 12-58
Passing: MV - Bridgeford 4-10-1-50, Madden 3-3-0-83; SM - Young 9-21-1-247
Receiving: MV - Randall 2-55, Keller 2-41; SM - Sweet 4-135, Higgins 2-50
By Eric Sondheimer
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Los Angeles Times
Santa Margarita Plays With Heavy Heart In Quarterfinal Loss To Mission Viejo
MISSION VIEJO – It was a tough night in many aspects for the Eagles. In the days leading up to the game they lost a fixture in the Santa Margarita community, Equipment Manager Vince Pattee, who died unexpectedly. To honor him, the Eagles marched onto the field with a sign that read “COACH PATTEE, ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS.” They also wore black, V.P., patches on their left shoulders and others wrote the late coach’s initials on their tape and wristbands.
First-year head coach Harry Welch called Pattee, “a rock” of the program. Senior wide receiver Logan Sweet said Pattee was “one of the greatest guys I’ve ever been around. He’s always been there for me ever since I was a freshman. He’s been supportive and always been one of the guys I could relate with and talk to if something was going wrong he always had my back and helped me out.”
The major hurdle that Mission Viejo was supposed to face on its way to the Southern Section Pac-5 championship game was a brick wall, all right. But when you have Superman on your side, brick walls don't mean much. Tre Madden is Mission's man of steel, and he helped turn back an emotional Santa Margarita squad, 31-28, with his defense and his offense, his legs and his arms.
The quarterfinal victory by the top-seeded Diablos, ranked No. 2 by ESPNLA, moves them into the semifinals next week against Mater Dei, a 17-0 winner over Tesoro. Madden's performance overshadowed that of teammate Dallas Kessman, who carried 24 times for 146 yards and two one-yard scores in the fourth quarter. The first gave Mission a 24-20 lead with 8:51 to go, the second made it 31-20 with 3:45 remaining.
“Madden is wonderful, an awesome athlete,” said Santa Margarita's first-year coach, Harry Welch, who turned a 3-7 program into one that was 9-3 and more than a handful for the seemingly invincible Diablos.
Madden began the season as a Wildcat quarterback, but 12 victories into a perfect season and Madden is simply a quarterback, period. He is going to USC as a linebacker. However . . .
“Talk to them about the Wildcat,” Madden said. “It would be fun.”
He completed all three of his passes for 76 yards, each over 20 and each in a touchdown drive. He also ran seven times for 61 yards, only once gaining fewer than eight yards, and the eight-yarder was a touchdown.
And as a middle linebacker he anchored a defense that held Santa Margarita in check, especially the first half when the Eagles mustered only 72 yards to Mission's 222.
He was the difference-maker in a game that could have gone either way.
“I have a lot of confidence in my ability,” Madden said. “But I trust my teammates. I can't do anything without them.”
Santa Margarita packed its own powerful punch. Emotionally drained and inspired by the death Wednesday of longtime equipment manager Vince Pattee, 74, the Eagles spotted Mission Viejo 10 points in the first quarter but came on strong in the second half. Adam Young passed 49 yards to Logan Sweet to cut a 17-7 halftime deficit to 17-14, and a 43-yard pass that set up Young's three-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 20-17 lead; a high snap foiled the point-after attempt.
But Mission answered, as it had all night, scoring on its next two drives, Madden passing 27 yards for the big play of the go-ahead drive, and running 17 yards on the drive that gave the Diablos an insurmountable lead.
“Everyone was making plays,” Madden said. “Credit the whole team for being focused.”
Focus was a concern Welch had for his players. They had been sobbing the last two days in meetings after learning of Pattee's death, and he was afraid they would not be in sync. In the first half, they weren't.
“The way you played that second half, there's no way you're losers,” Welch told his players afterward, advising them that the scoreboard isn't the ultimate measure.
Mission outgained the Eagles in the first half, 222-72, but the final total was 388-335.
“These are great young men that just two days ago lost one of the men they love, a man (of) dignity, and with sadness in their hearts – I'm so proud of them, how could anybody be more proud of a team than someone who just lost a coach, a mentor, a friend,” Welch said. “That's what's in my heart. I'm proud of them, I just saw a great second half, terrific high school football, a great community together, they played tough, they played hard, they played disciplined and it was exciting football.”
It was a year filled with adversity. Midseason, Welch had prostate cancer surgery after learning about it after the season had begun.
Santa Margarita fell behind by 10 points, though a stand on third-and-four at the five-yard line did force a Mission Viejo's Zach Christensen to kick a 23-yard field goal. Mission's first touchdown came after Michael Schmall's interception; he returned it from his 47 to inside the 10-yard line but a penalty negated the back end of the return. Instead, Mission drove 38 yards in five plays with Jahleel Pinner scoring from a yard.
It wasn't until the second quarter that Santa Margarita seemed to find its footing with a nine-play, 67-yard drive keyed by a brilliant catch by Sweet on a 26-yard completion to the three-yard line on a fourth-and-16. Cory Thomson scored from two yards to make it a game, 10-7.
But that's when Mission might have stamped itself invincible in these playoffs. It drove 80 yards in 10 plays, and every key play – except for the 15-yard personal foul against Santa Margarita after an incomplete pass – involved Madden.
He may ultimately be the difference-maker between Mission Viejo and all challengers, including Servite, a 40-16 winner over Crespi, or Alemany, a 42-21 winner over Lakewood. On third-and-six, Madden ran for 11 yards. He then passed for 22. And on second-and-six at the 11, he ran the ball twice, the second time bulling his way into the end zone from eight yards.
Most impressive, though, about Mission is that Madden is not just a Wildcat quarterback. The big play on the first touchdown drive came when he rolled out and passed 27 yards to Pinner. The big play on the 27-yard pass to Frank Randal to get Mission to the one-yard line before retaking the lead, Madden squirmed his way out of a sack and passed on the run.
He is also a devastating linebacker. There's a reason coach Bob Johnson believes the USC-bound recruit is the best around. Because he probably is.
By Martin Henderson
Friday, November 26, 2010
ESPN Los Angeles Blog
