Victory Puts Bounce Back in Mission Viejo’s Step

The play was called bounce--as in bounce back, which is exactly what Mission Viejo needed to do and did against San Clemente in a South Coast League game Friday night.

Mission Viejo entered the game with a two-game losing streak and had watched its preseason No. 2 ranking drop to No. 10 after a loss to Irvine last week. But Mission Viejo (5-2, 1-1) got its bounce back against San Clemente (2-5, 0-2), building a 28-0 lead and finishing with a 31-14 victory.

“It was a new play we put in this week,” said junior Eric Fielding, who got the most out of the play with 211 yards and one touchdown in 15 carries. “I’d fake to the inside and bounce to the outside.”

By the end of the first quarter, Fielding had four carries for 120 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run.

Mission Viejo scored on all three of its first-half possessions. Deron Drake scored on a one-yard run and then caught a 43-yard scoring pass from Jeff Carr, a junior who was starting for injured Payson LeMeilleur. Drake ran nine yards for a touchdown on Mission Viejo’s first possession of the second half and the Diablos led, 28-0.

San Clemente pulled within 28-14 on an 18-yard pass from Brett Hall to Ryan Scott, a one-yard Hall run, and a subsequent two-point conversion pass from Hall to Morgan Bannister.