San Diego High School Football : Morse Comes Up Short in Loss to Mission Viejo

Troy Kopps was intercepted three times, but he also threw two touchdown passes to Steve Miller, including a 67-yard pass play in the third quarter, as Mission Viejo High School defeated Morse, 14-3, at Mission Viejo.

Mike Howerton of Mission Viejo and Harold Dixon of Morse each had two interceptions.

John Burns accounted for the bulk of the Diablos’ offense, rushing 17 times for 114 yards. The senior tailback had 88 yards on Mission Viejo’s first scoring drive, which culminated in Kopps’ seven-yard scoring pass to Miller.

Morse, which netted 36 yards on 26 plays in the first half, put together two long drives after the half, but scored only once. After a 50-yard drive stalled at the Mission Viejo 14, the Tigers settled for German Puentes 31-yard field goal.

Behind Larry Maxey’s running, Morse drove from its eight-yard line to the Mission Viejo 21 late in the game but couldn’t score when the Diablos’ Jeff Hodges recovered a fumble on a fake field goal play.