Preview: Mission Viejo Diablos vs. Servite Friars
The Mission Viejo Diablos will be playing at home against the Servite Friars at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Mission Viejo sitting on five straight wins and Servite on three.
Mission Viejo had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They came out on top against Murrieta Valley by a score of 31-21 on Friday.
Mission Viejo's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Hinesward. Lilomaiava. led the charge by rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Fahey, who threw for 97 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Servite and Serra (ranked 72 and 88 in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile matchup. Servite walked away with a 28-20 victory over Serra on Friday.
Quaid Carr was the offensive standout of the matchup as he rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Carr was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 69 yards.
Mission Viejo is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season. As for Servite, their win bumped their record up to 8-5.
Saturday's game might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Mission Viejo has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 183.5 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Servite struggles in that department as they've been averaging 156.9 per game. It's looking like Saturday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Mission Viejo strolled past Servite in their previous matchup back in August of 2022 by a score of 42-23. Will Mission Viejo repeat their success, or does Servite have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
