TORRANCE >> Friday night’s contest against Mission Viejo marked the end of the gauntlet the Leuzinger football team went through during its nonleague schedule.
Having already played powerhouses such as Long Beach Poly, Bishop Amat, Chino Hills Ayala and Edison, the Olympians were ready to snap their four-game skid and focus on Ocean League play.
Instead, Mission Viejo gave Leuzinger fits, jumping out to an early three-score lead before cruising to a 49-20 nonleague victory at El Camino College.
“Our coaching staff opened our season with five tough games, and it humbled us,” Leuzinger linebacker Thomas Liavaa said. “But it’s not about the first five games, it’s about the last nine.”
Leuzinger’s defense looked up to the task of slowing Mission Viejo down from the outset.
Rashawn Carr came up with a tackle for an 18-yard loss, and Tiavaa sacked Mission Viejo quarterback Kadin Semonza on the next play, forcing the Diablos to punt the ball away on the game’s first drive.
“We didn’t look for specific personnel, we just tried to dominate as a team,” Tiavaa, who finished with two sacks, said. “We just tried to do what our coaches were telling us to do.”
Leuzinger’s starting quarterback, Will Doherty, threw an interception on his second pass attempt and Mission Viejo’s Joseph Mendez returned it for a touchdown and a 7-0 Diablo lead.
Things didn’t get better after that.
Mission Viejo (5-1) scored touchdowns on two of its next three drives, including Semonza touchdown passes of 25 and 4 yards to make it a 21-0 game late in the first quarter. Semonza finished with five total touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) and 232 yards on 15 of 19 passing.
“The biggest problem is getting our defense off the field,” Leuzinger coach Brandon Manumaleuna said. “Our defense plays well, but offensively, we’ve been putting them in a hole.”
Manumaleuna noted that turnovers put the Olympian defense in a bind. Leuzinger’s offense turned the ball over three times, each one leading to a Mission Viejo touchdown.
Leuzinger (0-5) made a personnel change early in the second quarter, putting Carr at quarterback to replace Doherty.
“We saw some match-ups we thought we could take advantage of,” Manumaleuna said. “(Doherty) was having some arm issues and Carr came in and I thought we adapted the best we could.”
On Carr’s first drive, he steered the offense 65 yards on 16 plays, capped by Bo Thomas’ 2-yard scoring run to make it a 21-6 game late in the first half. Thomas added a second touchdown later in the game.
Mission Viejo made it a 28-6 game just before the half on Semonza’s 13-yard scamper before Leuzinger was able to cut into its deficit on its first drive of the second half.
On 4th down-and-1 from the Leuzinger 47, Carr hit the hole and raced 53 yards to make it a 28-12 game. Carr finished with 94 yards on 19 carries and a TD. Combined, Carr and Doherty finished with 102 yards and 2 interceptions on 12 of 22 passing.
“I was focused on just moving the (chains),” Carr said on being called in to replace Doherty. “Our defense was (on the field) a lot and I was just trying to execute and put numbers on the scoreboard.”
With its nonleague schedule now in its rear view mirror, Leuzinger can shift its focus to Ocean League play when the Olympians visit Centennial next Friday.
“The biggest thing is we won’t see a defense, coverages or fronts we haven’t seen already,” Manumaleuna said. “We played the best of the best, and they threw everything they had at us.
“Our kids did as good as they could, and we just have to keep getting better. The experience of playing these teams and knowing how close we were can help us later on and in the playoffs.”
