It's going to be difficult for anyone to make a compelling case against Mission Viejo being the new No. 1 team in Orange County when the football rankings are released on Monday.
Ranked second in the county, Mission Viejo did the bulk of its damage in the first half as the visiting Diablos rolled to a 45-7 victory over San Clemente on Friday.
Mission came into the game ranked No. 6 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, and now the Diablos and El Toro are the only unbeaten teams in the South Coast League following the Chargers minor upset of Tesoro, 41-31. Tesoro was ranked fourth in OC and El Toro sixth.
Santa Margarita, ranked No. 1 in the nation by ESPN as well as No. 1 in the county, was defeated by No. 3 Mater Dei on Friday, 24-7.
San Clemente (4-4, 0-2 in league) hasn't beaten Mission Viejo (7-0, 1-0) since 1999; Mission is 12-0-1 in that span.
The Diablos' margin of victory this season, on average, is 36.3 points. They are averaging almost 51 points per game while allowing only 14.5.
Ian Fieber threw four touchdowns passes for Mission Viejo, which took advantage of three San Clemente turnovers in the first quarter to build a 21-0 lead.
They made it 28-0 on the first play of the second quarter.
Max Redfield had a fumble recovery and an interception in the first quarter, accounting for two of Mission's six takeaways.
As efficient as Mission Viejo was in the first quarter, the Diablos scored even more in the second as they took a 42-0 into halftime.
Feiber connected twice with Sean Modster for scores, of 39 and 15 yards, and twice with Frank Schnicker, of 9 and 69 yards.
Fieber finished 13 of 18 for 261 yards. He had one pass intercepted, and it was returned 50 yards for a touchdown by Ryan Alvarez with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.
Alvarez's TD was the last scoring of the night.
Marcus Collins scored on a 7-yard run and Zach Olson kicked a 31-yard field goal for the Diablos.
Mission Viejo plays at Tesoro next week, while San Clemente has a bye; the Tritons will play Tesoro in two weeks.
Mission Viejo and El Toro play in the last game of the season on Nov. 2.
