Catch of the Day Sparks Mission Viejo Over Rancho Alamitos

For those folks screaming about Mission Viejo’s devil mascot, the Diablos had a gentlemanly peace offering during their 25-7 victory over Rancho Alamitos Friday night.

An Immaculate Reception.

It came early in the second quarter, after a scoreless first, and it jump-started the Diablos toward what turned out to be an easy victory. Mission Viejo quarterback Brad Weekes faded back to pass on second-and-five from the Rancho Alamitos 25, lofted a pass toward the end zone and was leveled as he threw it.

The ball descended toward John Higashi, who was streaking downfield at about the Rancho Alamitos 5, when the Vaqueros’ Richard Allen suddenly stepped from the shadows and batted the ball away.

Trouble was, he ignored advice that secondary coaches have been passing down for years--he didn’t bat the ball straight down. As a result, Mission Viejo’s Jeff Williams was able to pluck the ball out of the air just before it hit the grass and trot across the goal-line for the score.

“That helped a lot ,” Higashi said.

He should know, because Mission Viejo followed Higashi’s trail to the victory. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior carried 24 times for 155 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that gave the Diablos a 13-0 lead.

“He ran well but, better than that, he ran smart,” Mission Viejo Coach Marty Spalding said. “And he refused to drop the ball.”

The Diablos (2-1) have been hurt by fumbles this year and, with the memory of last week’s 35-7 throttling at the hands of Irvine still fresh, Spalding was happy to see them hang onto the ball.

And equally so, he was happy to see the Diablo defense rack up one big play after another. It held Rancho Alamitos (1-1-1) to only 42 yards of total offense in the first half and limited the Vaqueros to one harmless touchdown, a flashy, 72-yard pass play from John Frank to Richard Allen in the third quarter.

By then, however, Mission Viejo led, 19-0. The touchdown was high on style points and low on impact.

“We needed to be more tenacious defensively,” Spalding said. “We need to do what good teams do--force turnovers and run to the ball.”

So chalk this one up to Higashi and a defense that limited the Vaqueros to only four first downs rather than to the new mascot Mission Viejo students voted this week to represent them--a baby devil that looks more like a mutant mix involving Bam-Bam and the Coppertone girl.

“I don’t involve myself with the mascot issue,” said Spalding, whose predecessor quit in part because of the uproar over the mascot.

Said Higashi: “None of the kids like it, but it’s better than no devil. Everyone wanted the devil, but that one was our only choice. It’s a baby, basically. It’s kind of wimpy. It’s too happy.”