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By Zach Cavanagh
What used to be a fatal formality has turned into a curiously optimistic opportunity, and new trends will be tested as San Clemente once again welcomes rival Mission Viejo to Thalassa Stadium in both teams’ South Coast League opener on Friday, Oct. 14.
While the league schedule rotates every two years, the annual clash between the Tritons and Diablos had been toward the end of the regular season since the Tritons returned to the South Coast League in 2016, and fittingly so, as the game usually shaped up as a league championship bout.
However, rather than the deciding the fate of the league title, Friday’s game will shape the league playoff race for the home stretch of the regular season. It will also do so at what has become the most interesting theater for the match-up: San Clemente High School.
The Tritons (5-2) and Diablos (6-1) are “rivals” in the South Coast League due to the two teams generally finishing first and second and nominally competing for the league title. However, until 2018, it had been a decade since the match-up had been competitive. San Clemente hadn’t “rivalled” Mission Viejo, as much as it had lined up to take its beating and finish second. Even with few tight games from 2005-08, including a tie in 2007, the Tritons hadn’t beaten the Diablos since 1999.
That all changed in 2018, where the dynamics of the rivalry had changed and finally introduced a boogeyman for Mission Viejo to actually fear: the San Clemente defense and the ghosts of Thalassa Stadium.
In 2018, with its back-up quarterback coming on in the second quarter and a denied two-point conversion, San Clemente shut down a high-flying Mission Viejo offense to break the Diablos’ two-decade hold on the South Coast League, 21-20. Mission Viejo was averaging over 31 points per game that season, and the Tritons forced three turnovers.
The Diablos responded at home in 2019 with a 38-6 handling of San Clemente, but when the game returned to Thalassa Stadium in the delayed and shortened 2020 season, another electric Mission Viejo offense was stopped in its tracks.
Those Diablos averaged 44 points per game in the first four games, but San Clemente grounded them and won in dramatic fashion again with a field goal as time expired, 10-7. San Clemente recorded eight sacks in the game, and Mission Viejo went scoreless in the second half with two missed field goals I the fourth quarter.
Once more, Mission Viejo retaliated at home in 2021 with a 45-0 shutout of San Clemente, as if to vent their frustrations.
Now, back at Thalassa Stadium, another stout San Clemente defense welcomes another explosive Mission Viejo offense to decide the course of the South Coast League. The Tritons are coming off a bye week, and the Diablos beat Helix of the San Diego Section, 55-27, last Friday, Oct. 7.
The Diablos remain one of the best in all of Southern California. Mission Viejo is ranked No. 5 in the CalPreps CIF-SS rankings with its lone loss coming on a final-minute play to No. 4 Long Beach Poly. A win would likely cement the Diablos in the Division 1 playoff field.
Mission Viejo averages 42 points per game from its offense. Senior quarterback Kadin Semonza has completed 67% of his passes for 1,597 yards and 18 touchdowns with three interceptions in seven games. Semonza’s favorite target is senior receiver Mikey Matthews, who has accounted for six touchdown catches and 607 yards on 37 receptions. Mission Viejo also features a stable of four running backs who can all carry the load and score.
San Clemente is ranked No. 28 in CIF-SS by CalPreps, and a win would likely place the Tritons back into the Division 2 playoff picture. As of now, San Clemente would be slotted into Division 3.
Defensively, the Tritons have 14 takeaways, including 12 fumble recoveries from 11 players. Senior linebackers Cole Robertson and Kyle Yamano have been tackling machines with 81 and 77 total tackles, respectively. Senior linebacker Nolan Reid has been an impact player with a team-high six sacks.
Whether San Clemente again splits quarterback duties or gives full command to either Broderick Redden or Dylan Mills, their face one of the tougher Mission Viejo secondaries in recent years. The Diablos have 10 interceptions in their 14 total takeaways, including six picks from junior Travis Anderson. However, the Tritons have faith in a strong running attack with senior Blake Allen and junior Aiden Rubin.
CalPreps’ computer projections favor Mission Viejo with a higher-rated offense, but the teams do have similarly rated defenses.
However, the computer can’t calculate the intangibles of a haunted ground.
By Zach Cavanagh
Zach Cavanagh
Zach Cavanagh is the sports editor for Picket Fence Media. Zach is a multiple California Journalism Award winner and has covered sports in Orange County since 2013. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ZachCav and follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SouthOCSports. Email at zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com.