Mission Viejo football defeats Los Alamitos in thrilling overtime battle
MISSION VIEJO – Mission Viejo beat Los Alamitos 34-28 in triple overtime Friday in a nonleague football game at Mission Viejo High.
Mission Viejo scored in the third overtime period on a 4-yard run by Hinesward Lilomaiava that followed a 21-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Luke Fahey to sophomore receiver Vance Spafford, who had three touchdown catches Friday.
Mission Viejo (4-1) entered the game No. 3 in the Orange County Top 25.
Los Alamitos, No. 7 in the county rankings, dropped to 3-2. The Griffins were coming off a loss to Servite.
Both teams were unable to score on their first overtime possessions, including a Mission Viejo field goal attempt that was wide left and a Los Alamitos field goal try that was blocked.
Mission Viejo, as it has all season, rotated two quarterbacks, junior Draiden Trudeau and sophomore Fahey.
Trudeau threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Spafford to finish the Diablos’ game-opening drive. Mission Viejo lined up for a point-after kick, Los Alamitos was flagged for a penalty which moved the ball closer to the goal line, so Diablos coach Chad Johnson decided to go for two points and the Diablos got them on a run by Hinesward for an 8-0 lead.
Los Alamitos scored with 1:42 to go in the opening quarter on a 9-yard run by quarterback Alonzo Esparza. Connor MacLachlan kicked the extra-point to make it 8-7.
The Griffins’ Oklahoma-committed tight end, Davon Mitchell, scored on a 20-yard, fourth-down pass from Esparza to put his team on top 14-8 midway through the second quarter.
Spafford’s second touchdown catch of the game, a 27-yard pass from Fahey, sent the lead back to Mission Viejo 15-14, which was the halftime score.
Mission Viejo extended its lead to 18-14 on Michael Salgado’s 32-yard field goal early in the third quarter.
Los Alamitos went ahead 21-18 on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Esparza to Carson Clark. Esparza was on the run and just before he reached the line of scrimmage, fired what was almost a lateral to his left to Clark on the sideline. Clark dodged tacklers on his way to the end zone.
A perfectly-placed pass from Trudeau to Spafford was good for a 49-yard touchdown and a 25-21 lead for Mission Viejo with 2:21 to go in the third quarter.
Esparza threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Hernandez with 8:46 left in the fourth quarter to give Los Alamitos a 28-25 lead.
Salgado kicked a 30-yard field goal with 1:26 remaining in the game. Los Alamitos’ ensuing possession ended at the Mission Viejo 42 when regulation expired.
Both teams played without top players. Among the sidelined were Los Alamitos running back Anthony League, who rushed for 287 yards and scored six touchdowns against Western, and Mission Viejo safety Travis Anderson, who has a team-high three interceptions and is committed to Boise State.
The Diablos travel to Washington, DC, for their next game against St. John’s on Saturday, Sept. 23. After a home game against Kamehameha of Hawaii, Mission Viejo plays its South Coast League opener Oct. 13 at home against San Clemente.
Los Alamitos’ next game is its Sunset League opener, on Sept. 28 against Fountain Valley at Huntington Beach High.
