Diablos dominate, Warren surprises: 5 takeaways from 2022 Mission Viejo passing tournament
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- Mission Viejo won its annual passing tournament on Saturday beating Warren 36-21 in the title game. In all, 20 teams competed in the event. Below are five takeaways from an action packed day of football.
MISSION VIEJO A LEVEL ABOVE
A week after winning the Edison passing tournament, the Diablos looked tremendous once again on Saturday. Senior quarterback Kadin Semonza and senior receivers Mikey Matthews and Jackson Holman were three of the top players at the event.
Semonza tosses a great ball and excels at throwing passes only his receivers can bring in. The Ball State commit's timing was also close to perfect on Saturday. He's been playing with Matthews and Holman since the eighth grade and the QB-to-WR connection they have is at an elite level.
Matthews consistently made circus catches on Saturday and Holman hauled in everything thrown his way. KJ Reed, another receiver, also had a strong showing.
The Diablos offense has been a well oiled machine the last two weeks -- no team has come close to matching their consistency on that side of the ball.
Mission Viejo excelled defensively in their games as well. Juniors Mikey Damato and Travis Anderson each had key interceptions to contribute to the championship win.
As if that wasn't enough, the Diablos also won the linemen competition sweeping all six events (bench press, power clean max, tire flip relay, 2-man sled relay, 6-man bob sled relay and obstacle course).
So what does all of this offseason success mean when it comes to the fall? Head coach Chad Johnson can't help but get excited.
"To be able to compete with the St. John Bosco's, the Mater Dei's and the Corona Centennial's of the world, you've got to have both linemen and skill players," he said. "If you have both, you've got a shot. The best teams I've had in the past at St. John Bosco and Trabuco Hills, we won linemen competitions and passing league tournaments so I think we're in a good position to scare somebody this year and maybe have a shot at this whole thing."
WARREN ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP
Led by senior quarterback Darius Cowens, Warren took down St. Paul and Corona Centennial to make the title game. Cowens transferred from Garden Grove Pacifica in the offseason and Warren head coach Kevin Pearson said he's been improving week by week this summer.
Cowens' best throw came in the title game when he drilled a 30-yard dime to Jordan Ross, another Pacifica transfer, down the middle of the field through a tight window. Ross made plays all day establishing himself as was one of the top receivers at the event.
On defense, corner Lamar Stephens had the game-winning pass breakup to lead the Bears to a one point win over Corona Centennial in the semi's.
SIERRA CANYON'S RECEIVING CORPS WILL BE VERY GOOD
Trailblazers head coach Jon Ellinghouse is still choosing between sophomore Alonzo Esparza and junior Damon Wrighster to be the team's starting QB, but whoever wins the job will have the luxury of throwing to a loaded receiver group this fall.
After taking a year off to focus on basketball, Jojo Phillips is once again playing football for Sierra Canyon and he dominated in the four games he played on Saturday. Phillips looked like the Trailblazers top wideout thanks to his combination of size (6-4, 190 pounds) and great hands. Unfortunately, Phillips dislocated his shoulder against Millikan and didn't play the rest of the day, but before that, he'd been the Trailblazers top dog.
Lavon Brown, a Colorado State commit, had a strong day as well. He caught two touchdowns in a win against Los Alamitos. Jaylen'Dai Sumlin played very well at receiver too.
"We’ve traveled the western US in the past three months and I haven’t seen a receiving corps better than ours," Ellinghouse said.
REMEMBER THE NAME CORY BUTLER
Corona Centennial's next great wide receiver after senior Malachi Riley will be sophomore Cory Butler. Butler was terrific at Corona Centennial's college showcase in May and he continued his strong offseason at Mission Viejo. Butler caught four TD's in a win over Santa Margarita. He made plays all day.
"He's done a great job," Corona Centennial head coach Matt Logan said of Butler. "Especially for being just a sophomore, he's got great speed and athleticism. You see how high in the air he gets. Even though he's 5-9 right now, he'll probably still grow some. He plays much taller than that and that's really important for a slot receiver."
EXPECT ST. BONAVENTURE'S JOAQUIN "JUICE" JOHNSON TO BREAK OUT
Last season, St. Bonaventure's offense was all about 2023 running back Delon Thompson. He rushed for 1,078 and 17 touchdowns in 10 games. Thompson comes back this fall, but he most likely won't be asked to do as much this season because the Seraphs have a new QB in Alemany transfer Anthony Wolter, who based on Saturday, has developed quite the connection with senior receiver Joaquin "Juice" Johnson.
Johnson caught multiple TD's against Los Alamitos and then he brought in the game-winning score against Millikan to put St. Bonaventure into the Gold Division playoffs. Johnson is a strong route runner and a great athlete. He'll be a fun player to watch this fall.
"I've been working a lot, just waiting patiently to have my breakout year so I'm excited for this season," Johnson said.
OTHER TOP PLAYERS
Santa Margarita receiver Emmett Mosley is healthy after missing a lot of time with injuries a year ago at Servite. He's already developed a bond with Eagles' quarterback Jaxon Potter and should be a handful for defenses this season. Mosley has received scholarship offers from Alabama, Arizona and Georgia, among others.
Millikan showed off its three headed monster of QB Myles Jackson and receivers Ryan Pellum and Jordan Anderson. All three are national recruits and all three played well on Saturday.
Los Alamitos struggled due to being down a number of key players, but 2026 QB Jaden O’Neal showed that he'll be a player to watch in the future thanks to making some high level throws. He started under center because 2023 USC commit Malachi Nelson was in Florida.