Football Preview: Mission Viejo Diablos vs. Highland Bulldogs
The Mission Viejo Diablos will head out to square off against the Highland Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Mission Viejo is coming into the match hot, having won their last 11 games dating back to last season.
Mission Viejo is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Liberty, who was ranked third at the time (Mission Viejo was ranked second). Mission Viejo blew past Liberty 46-0 at home on Friday. The Diablos pushed the score to 40-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Patriots had no chance of recovering from.
Vance Spafford was nothing short of spectacular: he picked up 78 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Another player making a difference was Drai Trudeau, who threw for 106 yards and two touchdowns while completing 84.6% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Highland was beaten by Oak Hills 56-24 last Friday. While losing is never fun, Highland can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 222nd, while Oak Hills is ranked 46th).
Despite the loss, Highland got top-tier performance from Justin Wyatt Jr., who threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 40 yards. That's the most total yards Wyatt Jr. has posted since back in October of 2023. Highland also got help from Le Bron Green, who showed off his sure hands for 97 receiving yards.
Mission Viejo pushed their record up to 3-0 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Highland, their defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 0-2.
Everything came up roses for Mission Viejo against Highland in their previous matchup back in September of 2023 as the squad secured a 58-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mission Viejo since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
