Mission Viejo 23, Huntington Beach 6

On a night when the Diablo offense sputtered, the defense picked up the slack, recording five sacks and giving up only one touchdown, a 72-yard score by the Oilers’ Russell Oschman late in the game.

Mission Viejo quarterback Billy Hart struggled, completing three of 18 passes for 72 yards. His first pass of the game, coming after the Diablos recovered a fumbled snap on a punt, was a six-yard touchdown to Jared Darensbourg, giving Mission Viejo a 6-0 lead. However, Hart’s next 10 passes fell incomplete, as the Diablos failed to move the ball the remainder of the half.

With 9:04 left in the third quarter, the Diablos had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Nate Atkinson after moving the ball to the Oilers’ six-yard line.

Mission Viejo’s Robbie Dubois, who carried 28 times for 170 yards, finally rewarded his defense’s effort, with two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of one and 35 yards to put the game away.