MISSION VIEJO — Too much Tristan Zale and Alex Kiernan. That’s the CliffsNotes version of what happened Friday night at Trabuco Hills High, where the Mustangs faced off with rival El Toro in their annual showdown.
Zale was scrambling with deftness and passing with authority. Kiernan was catching with deftness and hitting with authority. The combination helped lead Trabuco to a 35-20 nonleague victory over the Chargers.
Trabuco improved to 4-0 while El Toro dropped to 2-3.
Zale passed for 240 yards and four touchdowns – two of them to Kiernan.
Kiernan caught five passes for 67 yards, but also had two interceptions and led a hard-hitting defensive unit that allowed El Toro only one trip to the end zone until the final moments of the game when the result had already been decided.
“Our quarterback does a great job week in and week out,” said Kiernan, who had a pair of 9-yard TD receptions, one in each half. “When we need a big run, we can rely on him for that.”
And Zale was absolutely clutch with his legs as well as his right arm. He gave Trabuco a 7-3 lead when he scrambled 29 yards in the first quarter. Later he scrambled 12 on a fourth-and-10 that immediately preceded his first scoring pass to Kiernan with 4:58 left in the half. The second of five PATs by Ryan Weiskittel made it 14-3.
El Toro had its moments too, and it answered with a 70-yard drive that ended with a nice fade to the back of the end zone from Jack McKelvey to Luke Doyle to make it 14-10. The duo were definitely productive. Doyle caught 11 passes for 155 yards. McKelvey completed 19 of 25 for 262 with two interceptions.
That TD set the stage for what appeared to be a pivotal moment in the final result. After a three-and-out, El Toro drove 74 yards in 58 seconds, highlighted by a 37-yard catch-and-run up the middle by Doyle to get to the 1-yard line with three seconds remaining. Instead of going for it to take the lead, El Toro opted for an 18-yard field goal off the foot of Gianluca D’Amato as time ticked off. He had opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal on the first drive.
Trabuco went into halftime with a 14-13 lead.
“That was a key play,” Kiernan said. “To be up by 1 instead of down by 3.”
El Toro coach Peter Lofthouse had his reasons for being conservative. “We knew we were just a two-point conversion away from tying the game,” he said. “Before, we ran down by the 1 and the fumble occurred. Part of the problem is we had three starters on the offensive line who are out with injuries.”
El Toro had its chances and fumbled at the 1 yard line earlier in the game, partly because starter Makya Chee left the game in the first quarter after only three carries.
Trabuco also suffered a big hit. Starting receiver Ryan Luce was injured on a pass completion on the first play from scrimmage, a 22-yard gain.
Landon Pompey stepped up and caught seven passes for 83 yards while rushing 15 times for 109 yards. Gavin Mulhall stepped in to fill Pompey’s slot and carried six times for 47 yards.
Trabuco opened the second half with a 65-yard drive that ended with Zale’s 5-yard pass to Mikey Gray for a 21-13 lead.
The next drive was even more impressive after a punt was downed at the 1. Trabuco drove 99 yards in 12 plays, culminating in the second TD pass to Kiernan.
“Credit to Trabuco Hills,” Lofthouse said. “That drive was a statement.”
They weren’t done. Trabuco scored on its third consecutive drive of the half, going 55 yards, with Zale hooking up with Gray a second time for 20 yards to make it 35-13.
Gray caught three passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
The Trabuco defense was physical and refused to break. In addition to the clutch play from Kiernan, coach Mark Nolan raved about Jaedyn Berry and Tyler Schmaltz “and their pressure on the quarterback, they disrupted the run game,” and Tristan Gutman “who got a clutch sack, blitzed, did a great job.”
Gutman and Schmaltz had two sacks apiece. Landon Zack had a sack, and Aidyn Mitchell forced and recovered the fumble at the 1 to prevent an El Toro score.
“We were also sloppy at times in all three phases of the game,” Nolan said, “but at times we played really well and the score reflected that.”
