Magnum Force: Mission Viejo’s Defensive Line Big on Brawn

It’s no wonder opposing linemen have offered little resistance against Mission Viejo High School’s defensive front. This group successfully tackled a maintenance truck to win the “Linemen of the Year” contest last summer.

Tackles Mark Slymen and George Clark and nose guard Mike Madero are the heart of a Mission Viejo defense that has allowed an average of 121 yards and eight pass completions and recovered 10 fumbles in lopsided victories over Long Beach Jordan and University.

Impressive numbers, but they pale in comparison to the linemen’s time in the truck pull last summer at Fountain Valley against some of the county’s top high school linemen.

Ten Mission Viejo linemen pushed a maintenance truck 50 yards in 10.67 seconds to clinch the contest that featured teams from Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Ocean View, Estancia, Buena Park, Irvine and Santa Margarita.

“It was a lot of fun because it was a team competition rather than a weightlifting contest that judges individuals in weight categories,” Clark said. “The truck pull was the most fun because we had 10 guys pushing together.

“We were the last team to try it. We watched everybody and then beat the best time by over a second.”

Clark, the strongest player on the team, had the best view of the competition. He steered the truck after injuring his foot in an earlier drill.

“We would have won the contest by a bigger score, but we had four guys disqualified in the bench press because they tried to lift too much,” Clark said.

The extra effort wasn’t necessary. Mission Viejo (2-0), which plays Fountain Valley (1-1) at 7:30 tonight at Huntington Beach High School, has 11 starters who bench press more than 300 pounds.

“This is the strongest group in the 12 years I’ve coached here,” Mission Viejo Coach Mike Rush said. “The defensive front was sort of force-fed football as juniors. They were the green side of the ball.

“This year, they’re the veterans and our offensive line has four juniors starting for the first time.”

Clark is starting his third season, although he missed nine games as a sophomore with a knee injury and the first eight as a junior because of a broken arm. In both years, Mission Viejo’s seasons ended with tough losses in the semifinals. The Diablos were upset by Los Alamitos, 7-6, in overtime in the Southern Conference playoffs two years ago. Last year, they lost to Paramount, 35-32, in a Division III semifinal.

“Two of the most disappointing nights of my life,” said Clark, who has started at nose guard and tackle. “Los Alamitos scored on its fourth play in the tiebreaker and then made the extra point. We scored on our first play, missed the extra point and they started celebrating. I thought we’d get three more chances and would score at least twice to win. I didn’t know how the tiebreaker worked.

“I had the best game I’ve ever played against Paramount, but it was a weird game. We were undefeated, and the feeling of losing for the first time was strange. We had a few breakdowns, and they ran outside on us all night.”

Slymen has a 4.06 grade-point average and scored 1,120 points on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. He is a mobile 6-foot-3, 245-pounder who receives recruiting letters every week from major colleges such as Washington, Colorado, USC and UCLA.

Slymen didn’t play organized football until his freshman season at Mission Viejo and failed to make the school’s freshman ‘A’ team.

“I wasn’t very strong and had never played football before,” Slymen said.

But midway through his freshman season, Slymen graduated from the ‘B’ to the ‘A’ and became a varsity starter as a junior. Slymen, who’s strength is quickness, has worked three years with running coach Kevin McNair, improving his time in the 40-yard dash from 5.6 to 5.0.

Slymen is questionable for tonight’s game because of a knee injury he suffered while helping to block an extra-point attempt last week against University.

“Our defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown this year, so when University scored on a fumble return against our offense, our first team was determined to block the kick,” Slymen said.

If Slymen is unable to play, Madero will move to tackle and Alex Diaz will start at nose guard. Diaz, a quick 195-pounder, had four tackles against University.

Madero, 5-9 and 220 pounds, leads the team with six tackles and has a fumble recovery, sack and blocked punt.

“He got all those stats against Jordan because they ran up the middle the whole game,” Slymen said.

Madero is the team’s trench soldier, the ultimate blue-collar player at nose guard. Often double-teamed, a nose guard spends most of the game on the ground. Madero fits the mold.

“I create a pileup of players in the middle of the line, and then try to come out of it and make a tackle,” Madero said. “If I’m double-teamed, the best I’m going to do is clog up the middle.”

Mission Viejo’s line has earned a reputation for being defensive, but Madero said the unit stands apart because the players work together.

“If a team scores 14 points against us, not counting turnovers by our offense, then I’d say they’re a good team, a real good team,” Madero said.