TONIGHT’S PREP FOOTBALL : El Toro, Johnson Face Top Gun From Irvine

Last week could have been billed as Air Johnson vs. Air Solliday, when El Toro and Capistrano Valley played in the South Coast League football opener for both teams.

This week is Air Minici’s turn against his more famous counterpart at El Toro.

Jason Minici, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound junior transfer from Stevenson High School in suburban Chicago, will lead Irvine (5-1, 1-0 in the league) at Mission Viejo High tonight against El Toro (6-0, 1-0).

El Toro is the county’s top-ranked team, Irvine is 10th.

Both quarterbacks are having exceptional seasons, particularly Rob Johnson.

Johnson, 6-4, 210 pounds, leads county quarterbacks with a 181.9 efficiency rating, having passed for 1,205 yards and 15 touchdowns. In the 23-19 victory over Capistrano Valley and Tony Solliday, Johnson was 12 for 19 for 142 yards.

His main receivers have been senior Darren Doalson (24 receptions for 332 yards) and junior Wade Jackson (18 for 317).

El Toro also counts on tailback Bret Sanders to pile up yardage on the ground. Sanders ran for 133 yards in 31 carries last week. He has 527 yards in 93 carries, including two consecutive 100-yard-plus games, and 13 touchdowns to tie him with Ron Rector of Whittier Christian for the county lead in scoring with 78 points.

All in all, it’s not a promising situation for Irvine, which has lost the past four meetings between the teams.

“We probably will have to play a perfect game (to win),” Vaquero Coach Terry Henigan said. “They have a lot of weapons. I don’t think we can stop them offensively. . . . We are going to try and keep the ball away from them.”

If they do, Minici will have his hands on it. And that would be good news for Irvine.

Minici has passed for 1,032 yards and five touchdowns. He has set single-game school records this year for completions (18 against University) and yardage (304 in a 14-for-25 performance against Dana Hills last week).

His primary target has been senior wide receiver Mark Huffman, who has caught 25 passes for 516 yards, including a school single-game mark of 201 yards in the 26-14 victory over Dana Hills.

Minici worries El Toro Coach Bob Johnson, Rob’s father. If anyone knows a good quarterback when he sees one, Johnson does.

“We are concerned about their passing,” Johnson said. “They throw the ball pretty well.”

If we had any trouble last week, it was against the pass.”

Solliday burned the El Toro secondary for 293 yards last week. Minici could do some damage himself.

Mater Dei (3-3, 1-0) vs. Loyola (6-0, 0-0) at Santa Ana Stadium: Since the arrival of running back Derek Sparks a few weeks ago, Mater Dei has won three of four games.

Coincidence? Think again.

Sparks, who transferred from Van Nuys Montclair Prep last month, is averaging nine yards per rush, 732 yards in 81 carries, including eight for touchdowns.

Quarterback Billy Blanton has passed for 877 yards and nine touchdowns.

Loyola, meanwhile, is opening its Angelus League schedule with a perfect record.

The Cubs are led by quarterback Corby Smith, son of USC Coach Larry Smith. He has completed 48 of 83 passes for 636 yards and three touchdowns.

The offense is averaging 355 yards per game. Running back Matt Vanis has 582 yards and eight touchdowns in 85 carries.

The defense, led by linebacker Drew Casani and free safety Sean Cardenas (four interceptions), has limited opponents to 82 yards rushing and 100 yards passing per game and has three shutouts.

In other games tonight:

Century League: Orange vs. Villa Park at El Modena HS; Empire League: Katella vs. Los Alamitos at Veterans Stadium; Garden Grove League: Santiago vs. Rancho Alamitos at Bolsa Grande High; Orange League: Anaheim at Western, Valencia vs. Magnolia at Glover Stadium; Sea View League: Woodbridge vs. Corona del Mar at Newport Harbor High.