Prep Friday : SOUTHERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL : A Rivalry Above All : Mission Viejo and El Toro Even Have Own Family Feud

There are rivalries, and then there is El Toro High School vs. Mission Viejo in football, which plays again at 7:30 tonight when the Chargers and Diablos meet in a Southern Conference semifinal game in Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

This game goes above and beyond the traditional trimmings of a rivalry.

There is, of course, the proximity factor. The schools, located about three miles apart in south Orange County, belong to the same district (Saddleback Valley Unified) and the same league (South Coast).

Many of the players grew up playing together in youth football programs and still are friends. Students from both schools often socialize together. Many of their parents know each other.

There also is the rematch factor. The teams met only three weeks ago in the league finale, won by El Toro, 38-14. The teams also met in last year’s Southern Conference semifinal, won by Mission Viejo, 24-7.

Still haven’t piqued your interest in tonight’s game?

Wait, there’s more.

The coaches, El Toro’s Bob Johnson and Mission Viejo’s Bill Crow, are related. Crow has been married to Johnson’s sister, Linda, for 22 years.

So, tonight’s game is more than a local rivalry and playoff showdown.

It’s a Family Feud.

For the coaches, this week has been business as usual. They don’t play up the family element to their players or try to use it as a motivator. They have enough to worry about.

But for Helen Johnson, mother of Bob and mother-in-law of Bill Crow, this week has been torture.

And it will probably get worse tonight.

El Toro and Mission Viejo have been playing since 1974 (the Diablos lead the series, 9-5), but Helen Johnson had never attended a Charger-Diablo game until last year’s semifinal. She had always figured the night would be too nerve-wracking, but decided last year that, because it was a playoff game, she’d give it a try.

She hated it.

“I don’t really want to talk about that one,” Helen said. “I couldn’t root for anyone. I had to just sit there. If one side did something good, I couldn’t jump up and yell. I always thought about how it affected the other side.”

She had not planned to go to tonight’s game but changed her mind on Wednesday. She said she’ll sit in El Toro’s bleachers tonight because her grandson, Bret, is the Charger quarterback.

Still, she doesn’t relish the thought of going to the game.

“A lot of people have told me, ‘How can you lose?’ ” Helen said. “But I look at it as ‘How can I win?’ ”

Bill Crow is probably asking himself the same question.

Mission Viejo and El Toro were tied, 14-14, at halftime three weeks ago, but the Chargers, undefeated (12-0) and seeded No. 1 in the playoffs, exploded for 24 second-half points on their way to an easy win.

The Diablos must find a way to slow Bret Johnson, the county’s top-rated quarterback who has thrown for 2,193 yards and 23 touchdowns this season, as well as receiver Scott Miller, who has caught 62 passes for 1,018 yards and 13 touchdowns, and running back Aly Diaz, who has rushed for 1,145 yards.

El Toro’s offense has averaged 33 points per game, and its defense, led by lineman Scott Spalding and linebacker Scott Ross, has allowed an average of 11 points a game.

Since closing the season with lopsided losses to Capistrano Valley (41-14) and El Toro, Mission Viejo has put together two excellent games, defeating Beverly Hills, 33-3, in the first round and Foothill, 14-0, in the quarterfinals.

Quarterback Tony Arnone, who has passed for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns in the two playoff games, has led the Diablos’ resurgence. Running back John Burns, who replaced the injured Darrin Sweazy, has rushed for 200 yards in three games, and Sweazy, who rushed for 634 yards in eight regular-season games but was slowed by a foot injury in the playoffs, is healthy for tonight’s game.

Mission Viejo’s defensive secondary has performed well in the playoffs, intercepting Foothill three times last week, including two by Mike Howerton. Rick Angle returned another interception 95 yards for a touchdown. However, linebacker Jeff Pease is questionable with an ankle injury.

The Diablos (7-5) are playing well, but they’re still a decided underdog tonight. However, they do have one thing working in their favor--the fact that they lost to El Toro three weeks ago.

There were four Orange County rematches in last year’s semifinals, Westminster vs. Edison in the Big Five Conference, Santa Ana vs. El Modena and Mission Viejo vs. El Toro in the Southern, and Saddleback vs. La Habra in the Central.

In three cases, the team that lost in the regular season (Edison, Santa Ana and Mission Viejo) came back to win in the semifinals.

When it comes to rematches, most coaches give the advantage to the team that lost the first game because it usually has more incentive. And, if a team won the first game by a large margin, it sometimes becomes complacent the second time around.

“We got hit pretty good in the last game,” Crow said. “Thirty-eight to fourteen is in my brain, and I’m sure it’s in our team’s. I think we really have to try to get some respect back.”

This is what worries Johnson.

“Mission Viejo has a chance to salvage its season, so they have a lot of motivation,” he said. “It’s always tough to play someone a second time. People aren’t supposed to be getting second chances, so they (the Diablos) must be living right.”

Johnson has tried not to look at the game as a rematch.

“I don’t want to get caught up in that,” he said. “We’re looking at it as a CIF (Southern Section) semifinal game, another obstacle in the way of making the finals. We don’t treat it as a rematch. It’s just another game.”

Just another game? Against Mission Viejo? In the semifinals? For the second straight year?

C’mon, Bob.

Johnson eventually broke down and admitted that, yes, the El Toro-Mission Viejo game is a “giant rivalry.”

He added, “I don’t think it could be any healthier now. It draws big crowds every year, and that’s what the big games are all about. Big games are what the kids play for and what makes coaching exciting. It’s just a great high school game.”

Whether Helen Johnson likes it or not.

MISSION VIEJO vs. EL TORO Tonight at Orange Coast College, 7:30

MISSION VIEJO DIABLOS South Coast League (7-5)

San Diego Morse Lost, 3-0 Hart Lost, 14-13 Fountain Valley Won, 14-0 Santa Ana Lost, 19-0 Laguna Hills Won, 47-0 Irvine Won, 40-0 San Clemente Won,10-0 Dana Hills Won, 24-7 Capistrano Valley Lost, 41-14 El Toro Lost, 38-14 Beverly Hills Won, 33-3 Foothill Won, 14-0

EL TORO CHARGERS South Coast League (12-0)

Whitehall, Pa. Won, 20-19 Fountain Valley Won, 31-12 Westminster Won, 21-0 El Modena Won, 37-14 Newport Harbor Won, 32-0 San Clemente Won, 49-27 Capistrano Valley Won, 17-15 Irvine Won, 56-15 Dana Hills Won, 36-8 Mission Viejo Won, 38-14 Canyon Won, 35-0 Paramount Won, 28-8