ARTESIA — Mission Viejo football coach Chad Johnson has been part of some high-scoring games during his coaching career.
The Diablos added to his list, as they piled up the points in a 76-49 win over Los Alamitos on Thursday night at Artesia High.
Mission Viejo (9-1, 3-0), ranked No. 1 in Orange County, earned its second consecutive Alpha League title thanks in part to a 28-point outburst in the fourth quarter.
“It was an offensive ballgame and sometimes you get into a track meet,” Johnson said. “And you know, you gotta outscore somebody, and I’m just glad we came out with it tonight.”
“I remember 2015, we scored 52 points against Centennial and lost. They scored 62,” he said as he recalled a game while he was an assistant coach at St. John Bosco.
Diablos quarterback Luke Fahey threw for 562 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another score. His favorite target, wide receiver Jack Junker, caught 10 balls for 293 yards and three touchdowns.
Luke Karby also had a huge night with 172 yards on eight catches
“Offensively, I could not be prouder,” Johnson said. “I mean, Luke Fahey is by far the best quarterback around. You know, I don’t care. Slam dunk. The fact that he’s not in every single All-American game is comical. … He’s our leader and he played well tonight.”
The Diablos began the fourth quarter trailing, 49-48, as they were locked in an offensive battle with the 11th-ranked Griffins.
Los Alamitos began the season 8-0, its best start since 1998, but it lost to San Clemente last week, and it has now lost two in a row.
Los Alamitos (8-2, 1-2) missed a 40-yard field goal attempt to extend its slim lead, and Mission Viejo wasted little time taking advantage of the missed opportunity.
Fahey connected with Junker for a 40-yard pass that set up Davonte Curtis’ 12-yard, go-ahead TD run to make it 55-49.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Griffins were unable to secure the ball after a weird bounce and the Diablos recovered inside the 5.
“Well, we had kicked off in the left hash all night long,” Johnson said, “and we saw that they were kind of shifting their kickoff return to their sidelines. So we pooched the opposite, and the ball bounced our way. It’s wet out here and the ball kind of bounced our way.”
Curtis scored on the very next play to make the score 62-49.
Then the defense picked off Colin Creason on Los Al’s next possession.
The Diablos continued to pad their lead in an unlikely manner.
Curtis broke off a long run but fumbled and the ball went into the red zone. That’s when KJ Woodbury Jr. made a heads-up play by scooping up the loose ball and scoring a touchdown to make it 69-49.
Woodbury added a 37-yard TD reception to finish the scoring onslaught in the final quarter.
“Football’s a game of momentum shifts,” Johnson said. “And you know, we had the big momentum shift at the right time, and then we kind of carried it all the way through the fourth quarter.”
Creason finished with 295 passing yards and two touchdowns, both to tight end Beckham Hofland (101 receiving yards). Lenny Ibarra ran for 169 yards and four touchdowns.
The Griffins’ Kamden Tillis had 94 yards rushing with a touchdown and added 120 yards receiving.
