Mission VIejo 48 - Eagles 21
MISSION VIEJO, CA., August 26, 2016 – In a highly anticipated season opener that featured two of the top five ranked teams in Orange County, it was Mission Viejo claiming bragging rights as the Diablos defeated the Eagles, 48-21. Mission Viejo struck fast and early, putting up 27 first quarter points courtesy of quarterback Matthew McDonald striking for 181 passing yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter alone. McDonald would go on to finish his night with 379 passing yards and 42 rushing yards as the Eagles struggled to contain him on the ground and in the air.
In his debut as an Eagle, junior Malone Mataele stole the show, returning two kickoffs of 99 and 94 yards for touchdowns. In all, Mataele finished his special team’s night with five kickoff returns for 270 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 53.8 yards a return. Mataele’s breakout night was good enough to etch his name into the Santa Margarita record books. Malone’s 270 total kickoff return yards in a game was the most in school history, the previous record was set back in 2008 when Logan Sweet had 201 yards against Mater Dei. Interestingly enough, Mataele is now tied with four other Eagles for the most kickoff returns in a season with his two against Mission Viejo alone. He now ties Johnny Walker (2000), Ryan Maxwell (2005), AJ Cruz (2008), and Cory Thomson (2009). His third and final record of the evening tied him for the longest kickoff return of 99 yards with two former Eagles, Spencer Tyson against Poway High School in 2009, and Thomson against Tesoro in 2010.
Offensively, the Eagles managed 202 yards with 38 on the ground and 164 in the air. Starting at quarterback for the Eagles was senior Richard Wagner, who finished his evening 10/17 for 81 yards, 30 of which came after connecting with junior Mark Eaton. Eaton would finish the night as the leading receiver for the Eagles with two catches for 72 yards and a long of 42 from sophomore Brenden Costello who came in to replace Wagner in the second half. Joining Eaton was Oklahoma-bound senior wideout Grant Calcaterra, who hauled in seven catches for 33 yards. Costello, making his varsity debut, threw for 83 yards and completed 58% of his passes after connecting on seven of 12. Costello was also the leading rusher for the Eagles, carrying the ball eight times for 26 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, it was the line backing trio of senior Jaden Digravio and juniors Caden Fitch and Sean Toohey leading all tacklers for the Eagles. Toohey led the way with 11 tackles, with DiGravio and Fitch each having 10 of their own. Junior Joe Canty, stepping in for an injured Matteo Spinosi who left the game after the first play, brought down his first varsity interception and returned it for 17 yards.
| Mission Viejo | 27 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 42 |
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
MV – Osborne 23 pass from McDonald (Macmonigle kick failed)
MV – Osborne 82 pass from McDonald (Macmonigle kick)
MV – Griffin 39 pass from McDonald (Macmonigle kick)
SM – Mataele 98 kickoff return (Brady kick)
MV – Griffin 37 pass from McDonald (Macmonigle Kick)
MV – McDonald 12 run (Macmonigle kick)
MV – Ferrell 9 run (Macmonigle kick)
SM – Matase 94 kickoff return (Brady kick)
MV – Pavon 39 pass from McDonald (Macmonigle kick)
SM – Costello 1 run (Brady kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: MV - Schooler 4-52, Ferrell 14-59; SM - Green 6-11, Costello 7-44
Passing: MV - McDonald 14-18-1-379; SM - Wagner 10-19-0-85, Costello 6-12-0-90
Receiving: MV - Griffin 5-123, Osborne 3-107; SM - Calcaterra 7-47, Eaton 2-70
Sean Zeitler
Sports Information Director
Mission Viejo dominates Santa Margarita, 48-21
MISSION VIEJO – They are separated by two places in the rankings. But there was a large difference between the two on the field.
Mission Viejo scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and rolled to a 48-21 win over Santa Margarita on Friday at Mission Viejo High in the opener for both.
The Diablos have won 29 in a row and have won back-to-back CIF-Southern Section championships. They are ranked No. 2 in Orange County, behind Mater Dei. Santa Margarita is No. 4.
Making his Mission Viejo debut, Matt McDonald passed for 379 yards and five touchdowns. McDonald is a senior who transferred from Mater Dei. He started in Mater Dei’s opener last season, was injured in that game and did not play for the Monarchs after that.
McDonald quickly made the most of this second chance. He completed his first eight passes, three of which went for touchdowns.
“I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for so long,” said McDonald, who had 307 passing yards at halftime. “It means a lot. We scored on our first three drives and after that it was easy.”
Junior receivers Olaijah Griffin and Austin Osborne had two touchdown receptions each. McDonald’s other touchdown pass went to Gio Pavon. McDonald added a 12-yard touchdown run.
Malone Mataele scored on kickoff returns of 97 and 94 yards for Santa Margarita. Quarterback Brendan Costello scored the other Eagles touchdown on a 2-yard run.
Santa Margarita was not able to suit up all of its players. A few of the Eagles’ expected contributors, like sophomore defensive end Mace Funa, are observing the 30-day sit-out period required of some transfers in certain situations.
Friday’s game was the Santa Margarita coaching debut of Rich Fisher, who has a lengthy college coaching background and most recently was an assistant coach at Nebraska.
It was Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson’s 316th career win in his coaching career that includes stints at Los Amigos and El Toro. The all-time Orange County football coaching wins leader is John Barnes, who compiled 321 wins mostly at Los Alamitos before retiring after the 2015 season.
Mission Viejo’s most recent loss was to Oceanside in the second game of the 2014 season.
By Steve Fryer
Saturday, August 27, 2016
The Orange County Register
