Fielding, Diablos Stun Irvine, 14-0 : High schools: Tailback’s 232 yards help Mission Viejo knock off second-ranked Vaqueros.

Mission Viejo upset Irvine--ranked second in Orange County and coming off the first Southern Section football title in school history--14-0 before an overflow crowd of 4,000 Friday night at Irvine.

Mission Viejo tailback Erick Fielding gained a career-best 232 yards and scored on a 96-yard run in the second quarter.

So much for the highlights.

So much for the intrigue.

Simply put: Mission Viejo (2-0, and unranked going into the game) got ahead and stayed ahead, slowing Irvine’s running game to a crawl and disrupting the Vaqueros’ passing attack.

By game’s end, Irvine managed a measly 45 yards passing and 102 rushing. Mission Viejo had 18 yards passing but rolled up 277 yards on the ground.

Irvine did not have a decent chance to score. Despite all that rushing yardage, Mission Viejo had only one sustained drive, and that ended in a 22-yard touchdown run by fullback Adrian Amposta with 9 minutes 48 seconds left in the first quarter.

With 7:18 left in the half and Mission Viejo backed up to its own end zone, Fielding took a handoff from quarterback Brad Weekes and found little running room. But by bouncing to the outside, Fielding suddenly had open space in front of him. Only defensive back Chris Waite had any sort of shot at Fielding as the back sprinted down the sideline.

“I looked back and saw he had the angle on me,” Fielding said.

But Fielding simply outran Waite and cruised into the end zone all alone.

By halftime, Fielding had gained 176 yards in 14 carries and Mission Viejo led, 14-0.

Surprisingly--especially when you consider Irvine used its 16-13 victory over Mission Viejo as a springboard to the Southern Section Division II title last year--the Vaqueros came out flat in the second half.

Mission Viejo’s defense probably had as much to do with that as anything else.

“I was surprised at how our defense shut down (Scott) Seal the way we did,” said Fielding, who also started at defensive back.

Said Mission Viejo Coach Mike Rush: “Yes, we had to stop Seal, No. 1, and the passing, No. 2. It’s a little different when you’re ahead, though.”

Seal scratched out 110 yards in 20 carries, but Mission Viejo’s defense seemed to collapse on him whenever it seemed he might break a big run. And the Diablos’ pass coverage was always sound. Irvine quarterback Aron Garcia had all sorts of trouble picking out open receivers--mainly because there were few.

Garcia’s final numbers were forgettable: 22 attempts, eight completions, one interception and 45 yards.

“This was a total team victory,” Rush said.