Mission Viejo and Colin Schooler are too much for Long Beach Poly

The names alone make a high school football game involving Mission Viejo and Long Beach Poly an intriguing match no matter the circumstances.

The fourth-ranked Diablos had stormed out of the gates this season to a 3-0 start. On the other hand, the 11th-ranked Jackrabbits have not quite looked like their dominant selves in the early part of the year, squeezing by Los Alamitos in their opener, followed by a loss to Narbonne.

Friday night, Mission Viejo and Long Beach Poly showed flashes of why the contest garnered television coverage, but the Diablos, led by Colin Schooler, had a bit more flash on their side as they scored 28 unanswered second-half points to rout Poly, 42-14, at Mission Viejo High.

Schooler’s night was impressive, pacing the Diablos with five total touchdowns — four rushing and a 65-yard interception return for a score.

“It’s a great feeling right now,” Schooler said. “We started off good in the first quarter, then had a couple lapses in the second. [Poly] could have had momentum into the second half, but we stayed strong, made halftime adjustments and ran the ball really well.”

Mission Viejo (4-0) had no trouble finding the end zone in the first quarter, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on a three-yard run from Schooler and a five-yard run from quarterback Matthew McDonald at the 5:40 mark.

The first quarter momentum Mission Viejo built quickly switched hands as a McDonald pass caromed off of the hands of a Diablos receiver and into the waiting arms of Poly’s Kejuan Markham.

The Jackrabbits capitalized on the turnover, as Aaron Shampklin scored on an 11-yard run, cutting the Diablos’ lead to 14-7 with 2:07 left in the first.

Poly’s defense was stout throughout the second quarter and the offense tied the score on an eight-yard pass from quarterback Nolan McDonald to receiver Camren McDonald as time expired in the first half.

The Diablos took control in the third quarter behind Schooler’s interception return for a touchdown and a four-yard touchdown run. He added two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

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