Football Preview: Mission Viejo Diablos vs. Centennial Huskies
Mission Viejo is on a ten-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Centennial is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. After each having a week off, both will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Mission Viejo is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of California's top teams: Los Alamitos, who was ranked 23rd in their home state at the time (Mission Viejo was ranked fourth). Mission Viejo put the hurt on Los Alamitos with a sharp 40-14 win last Friday.
Luke Fahey was a one-man wrecking crew for Mission Viejo as he threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns while completing 87.5% of his passes, and also rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards Fahey has posted since back in December of 2023. Phillip Bell Iii was another key player, picking up 98 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was Mission Viejo's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. Jayden Hill was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up 2.5 himself. He also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 19. Mission Viejo got some further help from Jaden Williams: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made 14 total tackles (3.5 for loss).
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Centennial against Chaparral last Friday as the team secured a 54-12 victory.
Dominick Catalano had an outrageously good game as he threw for 354 yards and two touchdowns while completing 78.3% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Another player making a difference was Malachi Roby, who rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries.
Mission Viejo's win bumped their record up to 10-0. As for Centennial, their victory bumped their record up to 8-2.
The upcoming match will be a clash of competing strengths. Mission Viejo has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 276.7 passing yards per game. Centennial, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 237.9 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Mission Viejo skirted past Centennial 31-28 in their previous matchup back in November of 2022. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Centennial's Izzy Carter, who threw for 265 yards and a touchdown while picking up 11.0 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 45 yards. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Mission Viejo to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
