Mission Viejo Survives Trabuco Hills

Mission Viejo got a taste of the weeks to come in its 17-14 South Coast League victory over host Trabuco Hills Friday night.

And, Diablos Coach Bill Denny isn’t sure he’s ready.

“These are going to be heart-attack games,” Denny said. “I don’t know if I’m going to live through this.”

He’ll find out soon enough. The 10th-ranked Diablos (6-0, 1-0) will put their undefeated record on the line against No. 1 Mater Dei next week.

But they had their hands full with the Mustangs on Friday.

Trabuco Hills, which had a three-game winning streak stopped, had a chance to tie the score with 1 minute 19 seconds remaining in the game. But Brandon Heaney’s 27-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Mission Viejo got the one first down it needed on the following series on a seven-yard run by quarterback Jake Fitch, enabling the Diablos to run out the clock.

The Diablos’ first touchdown proved to be the biggest. With the ball deep in Trabuco Hills’ territory, Mustangs punter Tony Buonacorsi got a bad snap and Mission Viejo’s Andrew Wolf pounced on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

After the Mustangs (3-3, 0-1) tied the score on a six-yard scoring pass from Joseph Edwards to Heaney, Mission Viejo took a 14-7 lead on a two-yard keeper by Fitch.

Mission Viejo cushioned its lead with a 39-yard field goal by Nick Gilliam in the third quarter. But the Mustangs bounced back with an 80-yard drive, culminating in a four-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Chris Lewis.