Lines Separate Mission Viejo

You had to rub your eyes and check the scoreboard again -- yes, it really was Mission Viejo 41, Upland 7 -- if you saw the scene that unfolded late in the second quarter on Saturday at Mission Viejo High.

On the Mission Viejo sideline, defensive line coach Mike Piel was hot on the heels of defensive end Ryan Williams.

“You’ve got to stay on that!” Piel barked at Williams, who had nearly chased down the Upland quarterback before he unloaded the ball

If that didn’t seem strange enough -- Hello ... isn’t your team ahead by five touchdowns? -- Diablo offensive line coach Marty Spalding sounded like a drill sergeant as he unloaded during a rapid-fire halftime speech.

“On my epitaph,” Spalding later explained, “I don’t want it to be, ‘Here lies Marty Spalding the coach,’ I want it to say, ‘Here lies Marty Spalding the teacher.’ ”

Indeed, the men who coach the linemen at Mission Viejo never let up, no matter the score, no matter the scale of dominance. And that’s one big reason why the linemen on California’s top-ranked team don’t let their teammates down.

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If Mission Viejo’s football team were an airliner, USC-bound quarterback Mark Sanchez would be the cockpit, with all its fancy controls. Running backs Chane Moline and Keegan Gogerty would be the engines, providing thrust. The offensive and defensive lines would be the hull that keeps all the other parts together.

The blueprints are drawn up daily in Spalding’s classroom. The offensive linemen, packing brown-bag lunches, forgo 30 precious minutes of free time to meet with their coach and go over, in minute detail, every tendency of the defense they will face that week. This is in addition to film sessions and practices.

Spalding opens each session by handing out worksheets with formations drawn on them and, occasionally referring to himself in the third person, talks about zone blitzes and pull rules and counter plays.

To the uninitiated, it sounds like a foreign language. A player whose class load included an assortment of advanced-placement courses once told Spalding that his “class” was the most difficult.

“It is intricate, it is involved,” Spalding acknowledged. “They need to make finite decisions in an instant. It isn’t easy. The concept of the big, dumb football player doesn’t apply to offensive linemen these days.”

Spalding makes time for laughter as well as learning. Noting that the Diablos (13-0) are playing Valencia (12-1) on Saturday at Angel Stadium for the Southern Section Division II championship, the coach tells his players there will be no meetings the following week “unless you want to come in and give me a $100 bill.”

“He’s always in there joking around with us, keeping us loose,” said senior guard Chase Moline, the older brother of the Diablo running back.

Of course, all the coaching in the world couldn’t so much as move a blocking sled. The Diablos rely on 6-foot-6, 300-pound tackle Kevin Bemoll and his line mates for that. Bemoll can bench-press 415 pounds and was one reason Mission Viejo’s offensive and defensive lines ruled summer strength competitions.

When it came time to line up against regional powers Los Alamitos, Long Beach Poly, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Concord De La Salle during what could be considered the toughest regular-season schedule in state history, the Diablos found that they could do more than compete.

“We were dominating,” said senior offensive tackle Gregg Peat, part of a starting unit that has forged a tight bond while playing together for two seasons. “A lot of hard work in the off-season got us ready for it.”

The Diablos opened as the top-ranked team in the state and stayed there despite close calls against Mater Dei (14-7) and De La Salle (17-14). The highlight came during a 50-20 victory over Newhall Hart two weeks ago in which Mission Viejo delivered payback for a 25-7 loss in last season’s championship game, ending a string of 41 consecutive victories.

“That’s probably the strength of their team,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said of Mission Viejo’s lines, which helped deliver a season-opening 55-21 whipping of the Griffins.

Having “God” on their side surely helps.

Chase Moline, the South Coast League’s most valuable player, is the best player on what Spalding has described as probably the best line he has coached in more than 20 years. Spalding’s continual praise of Moline -- “I had a son who was a fine football player,” Spalding said, “and this guy is better than my son ever thought about being” -- prompted Moline’s teammates to bestow upon him the not-so-subtle nickname of the Almighty.

Intuitive and quick on his feet, Moline is an extension of Spalding on the field.

“We talk in the huddle and it’s like talking to a coach,” quarterback Sanchez said of Moline, who is considering offers from six Division I schools. “He’s got three different ways to block the same play.”

Said Peat: “When it comes to third-down situations, Spalding always says, ‘Chase, we need a first down,’ and Chase goes, ‘Come on guys, we have to get it.’ ”

Mission Viejo’s offense has amassed plenty of first downs while averaging 44.5 points. Sanchez can count on one hand the number of times he has been sacked, a testament to the strength of a line that also includes junior center Cooper Dodd and junior guard David Burton.

“They’re so unbelievably competitive, and they do not make mistakes,” Spalding said. “These coaches who think they’re going to fool us by stunting and slanting ... they make us laugh.”

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Spalding coached the offensive and defensive lines until this year, when Coach Bob Johnson hired Piel, a former defensive lineman for the Los Angeles Rams who played for Johnson and Spalding at Lake Forest El Toro High in the early 1980s, to coach the defensive line.

Piel inherited a group that includes three Division I-bound players among the four starters.

The line is anchored by Chase Moline, the Diablos’ only two-way player, and features Ohio State-bound Williams and Oregon-bound end Nick Reed. The unit has helped Mission Viejo register three shutouts and limit opponents to an average of 10.5 points. It also creates headaches for Sanchez in practice.

“They’re giving us fits every week,” Sanchez said. “It’s the fastest I’ve ever moved in my life.”

The defensive linemen like to joke that they have been given a reprieve from Spalding.

“Coach Piel is pretty normal and Coach Spalding is like out there on the edge,” Williams said.

Of course, there’s no one else the offensive linemen would rather have leading them onto the field.

“Our coaches are probably the best around,” Burton said. “We just try to get as close as we can to perfection.”

One game to go. They’re almost there.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Title matchups

This weekend’s high school football championship games (7:30 p.m., unless noted):

CITY SECTION

* Championship Division: Dorsey vs. Birmingham, tonight at the Coliseum, 8

* Invitational Division: South Gate vs. Fairfax, today at the Coliseum, 5

SOUTHERN SECTION

* Division I: Long Beach Poly vs. Los Alamitos, tonight at Angel Stadium

* Division II: Mission Viejo vs. Valencia, Saturday at Angel Stadium

* Division III: Dominguez at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, tonight

* Division IV: St. Bonaventure at Ventura, tonight

* Division V: Corona Centennial vs. Norco, tonight at Norte Vista

* Division VI: Orange Lutheran vs. Newport Harbor, Sat. at Angel Stadium, 2

* Division VII: South Hills vs. West Covina, tonight at Mt. San Antonio College

* Division VIII: Palm Springs at Serrano, Saturday

* Division IX: Western vs. Tesoro, tonight at Orange Coast College, 7

* Division X: North Torrance vs. Crespi, tonight at Pierce College

* Division XI: Oaks Christian vs. Oak Park, Saturday at Thousand Oaks

* Division XII: Grace Brethren at Ontario Christian, Saturday, 7

* Division XIII: Rio Hondo Prep at Anza Hamilton, Saturday, 7

Los Angeles Times