Johnson on the Mark as El Toro Wins, 28-6

Bret Johnson, El Toro High School quarterback, was perfect for a quarter in Thursday night’s South Coast League game against Dana Hills.

For the other three quarters, he was still something to behold as he passed the Chargers to a 28-6 victory in front of 2,000 in Mission Viejo Stadium.

Johnson, who was 8 for 8 for 137 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, completed 19 of 25 for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He threw bullets. He deftly squeezed passes between defenders. He stayed in the pocket. He scrambled away from the pressuring Dolphin defenders.

Johnson completed passes to eight receivers. Chris McCarthy, a senior wide receiver, led the Chargers with 8 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown.

The win gives El Toro a berth in the Southern Conference playoffs. Which spot the Chargers (8-2 overall, 4-1 in league play) get will be determined after the outcome of tonight’s Mission Viejo-Capistrano Valley game. Dana Hills finishes it’s season at 5-5, 1-4.

Both Johnson and his father and coach, Bob, thought it was essential to get off to a fast start. El Toro did, leading, 21-0, by halftime.

“We talked a lot this week about getting our offense on the board,” Bret Johnson said. “We wanted to score points quick.”

Bob Johnson said: “We were a little concerned with our momentum and how we were coming out of the chute. We spotted Capo 14 points and last week we were down, 6-0, at Irvine. That’s not a very productive first half.

“This was a nice one to go into the playoffs with. We came out of it healthy and that’s good at this point.”

On the second play of the game, Johnson threw to McCarthy for a 74-yard gain. McCarthy zipped down the middle of the field, caught the ball at midfield and appeared headed for an easy score.

However, defensive back Willie Joe Philbin chased down McCarthy at the Dana Hills’ three-yard line. Ken Romaniszyn scored on the next play to give El Toro a 7-0 lead.

Johnson extended it to 14-0 on a 15-yard scoring pass to Ken Moorhead with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

Johnson misfired--for the first time--on his first pass of the second quarter, but four plays later he threw to tight end Bobby Gaskins for a five-yard score and a 21-0 lead with 10:43 left in the half.

Dana Hills offered little resistence. Donny Macintyre, Dana Hills quarterback, completed only 4 of 17 passes for 32 yards. He ran for 13 more, including the Dolphins’ only score on a two-yard run late in the game.