Fight Sparks Mission Viejo to Victory : Prep football: Brawl in third quarter ends in ejection of two San Clemente starters and starts Diablos’ comeback.

Mission Viejo High School overcame a bad case of complacency with a strong second half to defeat San Clemente, 32-17, in the South Coast League opener for both teams Saturday night at Mission Viejo High.

A homecoming crowd of 2,200 saw San Clemente dominate the first half and take a 10-3 lead. San Clemente hasn’t won a league game in three years and has a five-year record of 2-25 in the South Coast League, but the Tritons (4-2, 0-1) didn’t look like pushovers Saturday.

San Clemente compiled 118 yards rushing in the first half, but its failure to score before the end of the half from Mission Viejo’s one-yard line was a critical point.

Mission Viejo quarterback Tim Snowden led the second-half comeback with two touchdown passes and running back Marcellus Chrishon gained 105 of his game-high 125 yards in the second half.

The turning point for Mission Viejo (5-1, 1-0) came with 9:40 remaining in the third quarter and the Diablos trailing, 10-3.

A fight broke out at midfield and both benches cleared. Once order was restored, San Clemente’s top two players--running back Morgan Bannister and defensive tackle Matt Wimpress--were ejected along with Mission Viejo defensive end Beau LeBreton and tackle Rob Cullinan.

The fight fueled the Diablos, who responded with two consecutive touchdowns to take a 17-10 lead.

“It’s a heck of a way to wake a team up,” Mission Viejo Coach Mike Rush said. “We were fortunate to win and I guarantee you we will not play like this again. We didn’t take our opponent seriously and I could feel it (letdown) coming.”

Dave Elecciri, who has spent four years trying to turn around San Clemente’s program, said the fight and subsequent ejections also motivated his team.

“We lost our two best athletes, but we came back and tied the (score),” he said. “That’s something you haven’t seen at San Clemente in past years.”

Quarterback Ken Dolan’s 24-yard run set up Shane Shanafelt’s nine-yard touchdown run that tied the score, 17-17, but Mission Viejo scored two touchdowns in the final quarter to secure the victory.

Snowden and Chrishon said the Diablos suffered from a case of overconfidence against an improved San Clemente team.

“Our coaches told us all week long that San Clemente is no pushover, and we didn’t believe them,” Snowden said. “We finally woke up in the second half.”

Chrishon, coming off a 201-yard rushing game against Mater Dei, said he never took San Clemente seriously.

“We came out overconfident,” he said. “I figured they would be the same old San Clemente and we’d win easy.”