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Mission Viejo survives Yorba Linda, 27-26
Jack Junker broke touchdown runs of 77 and 73 yards, and the Diablos stuffed a two-point try with 1:31 left to survive a Yorba Linda team still playing for its season.
YORBA LINDA — Before kickoff Thursday night, Yorba Linda’s public address announcer introduced the Mustangs as a 4-2 team. That is not what the standings say. It is what happened on the field, and for most of the next three hours, Yorba Linda played like a team determined to prove the point.
It came up one point short. Isaiah Trujillo’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:31 left pulled the Mustangs within 27-26, and coach John Domen’s team went for two and the win. Mission Viejo’s defense stopped the run, and the state-ranked Diablos escaped with a 27-26 Alpha League victory.
Mission Viejo (6-1, 2-0 Alpha) owed most of its points to Jack Junker. Playing without leading rusher Carson Vandermade, the Diablos handed the ball to the senior, and Junker ran 11 times for 187 yards, two of those carries going for touchdowns of 77 and 73 yards. The second one came moments after Yorba Linda had finally pulled even: one handoff, 73 yards, 27-20 with 8:29 to play.
How it turned
It started looking like a typical Mission Viejo night. Junker’s 77-yarder and a touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Brett Burnor, who kept it himself, made it 14-0 after one quarter. Burnor finished 11 of 18 passing for 103 yards and ran four times for 57.
Yorba Linda answered in the second quarter. Aiden Gutierrez scored, and Trujillo followed with a touchdown run that made it 14-12 and had the home crowd chanting. The two-point try failed, and Caleb Sylvia’s field goal sent Mission Viejo to halftime ahead 17-12. Sylvia added another in the third for a 20-12 lead.
Then the Mustangs found their legs again. They ended the third quarter driving at the Mission Viejo 20, and Trujillo scored on a fourth-down run in the fourth quarter. Yorba Linda converted the two-point try on a recovery. Tie game, 20-20, and a home crowd that had spent a week and a half absorbing bad news had something to shout about.
It lasted until Junker’s next carry.
The numbers
Gutierrez carried 22 times for 113 yards for Yorba Linda, and Trujillo, a junior, ran 15 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Andrew Churney made the start at quarterback and completed 7 of 11 passes for 90 yards. Luke Karby caught six passes for 30 yards for Mission Viejo.
#7 Mission VIejo holds off Yorba Linda on the 2 point conversion, as the Diablos stay unbeaten in Alpha League play
— JPWest Media (@JPWestMedia) October 8, 2026
Photo: Joey Gray
The asterisk
The 4-2 introduction was not an accident. On Sept. 29, the CIF Southern Section ordered Yorba Linda (0-7, 0-2) to forfeit its four wins, over Laguna Beach, Long Beach Poly, El Dorado and Esperanza, after finding violations of its eligibility bylaws. On the field, the Mustangs are 4-3, and two of those losses have come by a combined five points: 29-25 at Huntington Beach and Thursday’s one-pointer against one of the best teams in the state.
The official record is the one that counts in the playoff race. To earn an at-large berth, the Southern Section requires a .300 winning percentage or three wins, and Yorba Linda has three games left: San Juan Hills next Thursday, Edison on Oct. 23 and at Los Alamitos on Oct. 30. The Mustangs have to win all three.
Next up
Mission Viejo sits atop the Alpha League with a trip to San Clemente next Friday that could go a long way toward deciding it. The Diablos had scored at least 42 points in five of their first six games. Thursday they needed a stop with 91 seconds left, and they got it.