Blanton’s Play Makes Difference : Mater Dei: Quarterback passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns.

He doesn’t look like much, this Billy Blanton. But give him a yard, and he’ll take 50. By game’s end, the other team will wonder what hit it. Most likely, it was the guy wearing No. 12 in the red uniform of Mater Dei High School.

Mission Viejo, top-ranked in Orange County, found that out first hand in front of 7,000 Thursday night at Santa Ana Stadium. The Diablos came away losers, just as Mater Dei’s other five opponents had.

For a half it was close, maybe even exciting, if you were rooting for Mission Viejo. Blanton pecked away early, made a mistake--an interception returned 82 yards by Eddie Benyo for Mission Viejo’s only touchdown--then dropped a bombshell.

Actually, an innocent-looking screen pass starting at the Mater Dei 22-yard line opened the floodgates for an easy, 42-7 victory. When it started, the play didn’t look as if it would ever amount to anything.

First, Blanton was almost sacked. Then, running back Chris Ruperto was nearly clobbered for a short gain after he caught Blanton’s pass.

But Ruperto made a cut to his right near the 25. And the defense had been hopelessly fooled, drawn into the Mater Dei backfield. Once Ruperto broke into the clear, there were only a couple of confused Mission Viejo defensive backs in position to tackle him. But no one came close, and Ruperto sprinted into the end zone alone for a 78-yard scoring play.

Later, all concerned said it was the play that broke Mission Viejo’s back. Instead of a 7-7 halftime tie, it was 14-7, and Mater Dei soon made a rout of this showdown between No. 1 Mission Viejo and the No. 3 Monarchs.

“That play took us to another level,” Blanton said.

Blanton threw two more touchdowns in the second half, covering four yards to tight end Jason Thies and 53 yards to wideout Roger Morante. It was 42-7 after Morante’s long catch and run through Mission Viejo’s defense. Almost 9 minutes remained, and Blanton watched the rest of the game from the sidelines while the subs got a chance to mix it up.

He finished with 337 yards passing and three touchdowns, completing 13 of 22 passes with one interception.

“Everything was clicking tonight,” he said. “The line was blocking great. The running game was good. The passing . . . everything was there.

“This is a great way to go into league. We’re sky high right now.”

Next up for Mater Dei is the Angelus League opener against St. John Bosco next Friday. And this isn’t the time to back off, Blanton said.