Sports
Yokoyama, Diablos Bedevil Huntington Beach, 41-31, Advance to Semifinals
Buzzy Yokoyama runs for four touchdowns and Mission Viejo advances to the Pac-5 Division semifinals to face Santa Margarita, which will be seeking revenge after last year's second-round loss.
Coach Bob Johnson and running back Buzzy Yokoyama both say Mission Viejo relies on USC-bound fullback Jahleel Pinner to make big plays, but on Friday night, the second-seeded Diablos proved they have more than one weapon at their disposal.
Pinner was held to only 18 yards on six carries, but he opened huge holes for Yokoyama, who rushed for a game-high 151 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries to lead the Diablos past host Huntington Beach, 41-31, in a quarterfinal of the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Divsion playoffs.
Quarterback Alex Bridgford was also sharp, completing 12 of 16 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns for Mission Viejo (10-2).
“This was a great win for our program against a very good and scrappy team,” Johnson said. “Give them credit. They got down and just refused to give up.”
Huntington Beach (9-3) trailed, 34-10, to start the fourth quarter but two quick touchdowns in less than 30 seconds trimmed the Oilers' deficit to 34-24 with 7:35 left to play. A personal foul by Mission Viejo allowed the Oilers to kick off from their 45-yard line, but they booted it for a touchback instead of going for an onside kick or trying to pin the Diablos deep in their own territory.
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“That was a surprise because they had just recovered an onside kick on the possession before and I thought they would go for it again,” Johnson said.
On the next play, Bridgford’s pass was intercepted on the 34-yard line, but a roughing-the-passer penalty returned the ball to the Diablos and took the air out of Huntington Beach's sails.
“I thought that was the biggest play of the game,” Johnson said. “Who knows what happens in this game if we don’t get that call. We made some mistakes tonight and we have some things to work on next week, but we’ll take it and move on.”
A strong defensive effort by Mission Viejo led to eight sacks, including five stops on fourth down with the ball on their side of the field. Senior defensive end Colin Dzubner recorded three of those sacks in the second half when the Oilers were forced to pass on nearly every down.
“The coaches told us that [Huntington Beach] needed to pass more in the second half if they wanted to catch up,” Dzubner said. “So I was thinking, 'Rush the passer for most of the second half.' He [Michael Chislock] was one of the best quarterbacks we faced this year, but I think our defense stepped up big.”
Chislock completed 23 of 47 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns, along with being the leading rusher for Huntington Beach with 53 yards on 15 carries.
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Mission Viejo is the only seeded team remaining in the Pac-5 playoffs. Top-seeded , and third-seeded which is the Diablos' opponent in Friday's semifinals Last season, Mission Viejo defeated Santa Margarita, 31-20, in the quarterfinals.
In the last two seasons, Mission Viejo has been beaten in the playoffs by Servite, in the semifinals in 2009 and in the finals in 2010.
“The South Coast was 3-0 tonight, that’s pretty amazing,” Johnson said of victories by his team, San Clemente and Tesoro. “We know Santa Margarita pretty good and faced them last year in the second round. We’ll enjoy this one right now and then get after it again tomorrow.”
