Crow Keeps Mission Viejo Under Wraps, but Diablos Show Enough for 35-13 Win

Mission Viejo High School Coach Bill Crow wasn’t about to show everything that his potent offense is capable of doing Thursday night in his team’s nonleague game against Downey, especially with most of the South Coast League coaches sitting in the stands.

But the Diablos did show that they are a versatile team blessed with plenty of offensive weapons and an equally good defensive group in a 35-13 rout of Downey in front of 1,500 fans in Mission Viejo Stadium.

Dick Enright of Capistrano Valley, Terry Henigan of Irvine and Bob Johnson of El Toro watched as league-favorite Mission Viejo scored in every quarter to gain its sixth consecutive victory without a loss. Downey, a member of the San Gabriel Valley League, slipped to 4-2.

If the rival coaches came to watch Mission Viejo quarterback Brendan Murphy pass, they would have been better off staying home. Murphy completed 4 of 6 attempts for 21 yards, and one of those was a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bobby Doran in the fourth quarter.

Crow elected to stay on the ground as running backs Todd Yert (16 carries, 104 yards) and Darrin Sweazy (10 carries, 67 yards) and Murphy (8 carries, 58 yards) combined for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“I hope those coaches go back thinking we can’t throw,” Crow said. “We went into the game thinking that we didn’t want to throw, and as the game went along, we said the heck with it.”

The Diablos had a 14-0 lead at halftime and had limited Downey to 69 total yards and 2 first downs. Mission Viejo didn’t waste any time scoring in the second half as Dennis Erk returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

Erk, a speedster who shines in the Diablos’ secondary, is quickly establishing himself as one of the premier players in the county. The kickoff return for a touchdown was his second of the season, and he has also intercepted two passes.

“We went years without a return on a kickoff and now Dennis has two,” Crow said. “He’s our fastest player on the team and compares favorably to (all-county star) David Hill. He has the same leaping ability as David, and he’s a little quicker.”

But Erk is just one of the standouts on a very good Mission Viejo team that deserves its No. 2 ranking in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. prep football poll.

Yert’s two touchdowns gave him 10 in six games. The 6-foot 1-inch, 212-pound senior is a physical runner who benefits from some excellent blocking by linemen John Charlton and Rick Costello.

Then there’s Sweazy, a 5-11, 182-pound junior transfer from El Toro, who complements Yert well in the backfield. Murphy also showed he is a good runner, but can he pass? He didn’t need to against an outmanned Downey team that didn’t get its offense going until late in the third quarter when Crow began to substitute.

Defensively, nose guard Craig Whitley and end Ben Morgon played well, and Downey gained only 82 yards passing against the Diablo secondary anchored by Erk.

Mission Viejo resumes league play next week against Laguna Hills, and then encounters Capistrano Valley, El Toro and Irvine to conclude the season.

“The meat of our schedule is ahead of us,” Crow said. “I still don’t know if that’s good or bad.”