Sports Shorts: Mission Viejo Football Coach Looks to Add to Victory Total

Veteran coach Bob Johnson of Mission Viejo High trails only John Barnes of Los Alamitos on the list of active high school football coaches with the most victories in Orange County history, according to the Orange County Register.

Johnson enters the 2011 season with 255 wins, while Barnes has 288. Trailing both are  Valencia’s Mike Marrujo (246), Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson (214) and Newport Harbor's Jeff Brinkley (208).

The Diablos, who reached the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division championship game before suffering their first defeat last season, open the new season on Friday, when they play host to Centennial High of Bakersfield as part of the two-day Mission Viejo High School Football Classic. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.

Who's on First in Coast View Conference?

As you probably know by now, the Coast View Conference is made up of the 10 high schools in the Capistrano and Saddleback Valley unfiied school districts. Where these schools are placed -- in either the South Coast or Sea View leagues -- is determined on a sport-by-sport basis.

However, the makeup of the leagues is scheduled to change every two years, which means after the 2011-2012 school year, the bottom two teams in the South Coast will change places with the top two teams in the Sea View in every sport. The South Coast is considered the stronger of the two leagues.

This fall, Mission Viejo High will continue to play football, boys water polo and girls golf in the South Coast League, while the Diablos' girls tennis, girls volleyball and boys and girls cross-country teams participate in the Sea View League.

Capistrano Valley High will field football, boys water polo, girls golf and boys and girls cross-country teams that compete in the Sea View League, while the Cougars' girls tennis and girls volleyball teams will play in the South Coast League.

Trabuco Hills' football, girls volleyball, girls golf and both boys and girls cross-country teams will play in the South Coast League, and the Mustangs' boys water polo and girls tennis compete in the Sea View League.

Next year? Well, we'll see.

This also is the final school year for the current CIF-Southern Section playoff groupings for football. Not that they'll change any, but there's always a league or two that would rather be in a different division.

By the way, Capistrano Valley kicks off its football season with a home game against Trabuco Hills Thursday, beginning at 7 p.m.

Time Keeps on Ticking, Ticking...

Did you know that if a football team leads an opponent by 35 points or more by the end of three quarters of play this season, there will be a running clock during the fourth quarter?

This “mercy rule,” approved by the CIF Southern Section last spring, will be in effect for all CIF Southern Section football games -- nonleague, league and the playoffs -- beginning this fall.

During a “running clock,” the clock will be stopped only after a score, a fair catch, a charged team timeout or an official’s timeout. Coaches can agree to establish a running clock earlier in the game, but if the points gap between the teams is reduced to less than 35 points in the fourth quarter, the running clock will remain in operation.

Read more about the new "mercy rule" .

Cougars' Volleyball Finishes Eighth in Anaheim Tournament

Capistrano Valley’s girls volleyball team finished eighth in the Division 1 standings of the Foothill Queen’s Court preseason tournament that concluded Sunday at the American Sports Center in Anaheim.

Dos Pueblos of Goleta, ranked No. 2 in Division 1AA, defeated Laguna Beach, 25-19, 25-22, in the tournament’s final. The Breakers are ranked No. 3 in Division 1A and defeated Edison, 32-30, 25-21, in the semifinals. Edison finished third and Corona del Mar was fourth in Division 1.

Tesoro topped Beckman, 25-15, in the Silver Bracket final.

Summer Progressed Swimmingly

Mission Viejo Nadadores distance swimmer Janardan Burns won his first U.S. Junior title in the 1,500-meter freestyle on Aug. 8 at the Speedo Junior National Championships in Stanford.

Burns, a junior at Aliso Niguel High, defeated runner-up Logan Redondo, a Nadadores teammate and senior at Capistrano Valley, by more than three seconds, finishing in a personal best 15 minutes, 34.36 seconds.

Redondo also placed third in the 800 free in 8:12.15, and Zach Ridout, a senior at Capistrano Valley and another Nadadores swimmer, was fourth in the 800 free in 8:12.69.

A week earlier at the senior nationals, also at Stanford, another Nadadore, junior David Heron of Mission Viejo High, placed 8th in the 1,500 in 15:35.63, and Ridout also made the cut for the U.S. Olympic trials next summer with a time of 15:48.27 in the same event.

Have some sports news or results you'd like to share? Send it to Bob.Rohwer@patch.com.