Diablos Have the Answer to Servite Response; Reach Semis

If Mission Viejo needed to find out about itself, it did so Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Section Division 1 football playoffs. The Diablos faced a challenge unlike any this season. Bigger and vastly more experienced, Mission found itself in a scrape with a program that pushed back, that could give as much as it could take, that was unwilling to be another notch on the Diablo belt.

But Mission answered every comeback down the stretch, and when 48 thrilling minutes had transpired, the Diablos had scored a 38-35 victory over Servite before a nearly sold-out crowd at Mission Viejo High.

The victory sends Mission to the semifinals, where it will play host to Mater Dei for the third time in three years.

Quarterback Peter Costelli proved to be too much, ultimately. Servite coach Troy Thomas had sized him up as maybe the fastest player on the field before kickoff, and Costelli made a good point of making the Friars’ coach look prophetic.

Costelli rushed nine times for 48 yards – including 26-yarder on third down that kept a TD drive alive – as well as an 18-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that gave Mission a 24-13 lead with 9:23 left. That score initiated a slugfest worthy of championship programs.

Servite answered with a six-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Derek Fuentes’ 1-yard run with 7:51 remaining, and Noah Fifita’s conversion pass to Tetairoa McMillan pulled Servite to within 24-21.

Costelli’s 48-yard pass on a brilliant laid-out reception by Jereme Cortes-Rolfe and the subsequent 2-yard score by Jacquez Robertson made it 31-21 with 5:52 left.

Servite went 80 yards in five plays, with Fifita hitting Kyle Bandy underneath for a 31-yarder that pulled Servite to 32-28 with 4:20 remaining.

An 82-yard kickoff return by James McDonald set up Easton Mascarenas’ 1-yard run to go up 38-28 with 3:47 left.

Servite answered with a 17-play, 85-yard drive that ended with Fifita’s 7-yard pass to McMillan with 10 seconds remaining to pull to 38-35.

Servite wasn’t completely dead despite the score; the Friars had a chance at recovering the onside kick before it was ended in Mission Viejo’s possession.

Yet it was that 18-yard run by Costelli that marked the completion point to a critical turn of events. Servite had driven to the 2-yard line and, on fourth and goal, Mission committed a pass interference on a pass intended for McMillan. The chains accurately said fourth down – because there was no automatic first down – while the scoreboard said first down. The Friars pounded Fuentes into what is arguably the best defensive line in Orange County, but he was stopped for no gain at the 1.

Ninety-nine yards later, Costelli was exhuberant in the end zone.

“Definitely, our most challenging game of the year,” said defensive lineman Logan Schwenke, who had two of Mission’s four sacks and recovered a fumble. “It’s just what we expected from a Trinity League school with an amazing coaching staff. It was a game of who was going to out-physical who.”

Servite started only three seniors on defense, and Fifita and McMillan on offense are both sophomores. Fifita completed 20 of 20 for 310 yards and four touchdowns – three of them to McMillan, who caught 10 passes for 140 yards and scores of 44, 2 and 7 yards. Servite rushed 28 times for 98 yards.

Costelli, a junior, completed 11 of 18 passes for 135 yards. Robertson rushed 19 for 102 with scores of 4 and 2 yards, and Tyson Scott carried 10 for 39 and a touchdown.

Perhaps overlooked in all the offense was that R.J. Lopez provided the three-point difference when he booted a 33-yard field goal with 7:24 left in the second quarter to give Mission a 17-7 advantage. Special teams played a huge role in the outcome. A 6-yard punt by Servite on its opening drive set up Mission’s first score, a 35-yard drive, and the McDonald kickoff return set up a 15-yard drive after an illegal block penalty had been assessed.

On the field, it’s the 21st victory in 23 games for Mission (11-0), which will play host to top-seeded Mater Dei (11-0) on Friday in the semifinal round. Mission has been eliminated in the playoffs for the last two seasons by the Monarchs, who are ranked No. 1 in the nation and have won 18 in a row dating to last season’s Trinity League loss to St. John Bosco.

Mission had not played a game this season closer than 11 points before stepping up to the Servite challenge. “Mater Dei’s defense is probably better than that,” Mission coach Chad Johnson said. “It’s scary.”

Mater Dei’s offense is pretty good too. The Monarchs have averaged 51.5 points per game and a 36.3-point margin of victory.

Servite (6-4), which finished third in the Trinity League behind Mater Dei and Bosco, lost to four teams this season with a combined record of 40-2.

“That was a great high school football game with two teams that battled to the end,” Thomas said. “That’s what you want.”