PREP FOOTBALL : South Coast League : Johnson Leads El Toro to 56-15 Rout of Irvine

Bret Johnson threw four touchdown passes Thursday night to lead El Toro High School to a 56-15 victory over Irvine in a South Coast League game at Mission Viejo High.

Johnson threw touchdown passes of 42, 49, 3 and 12 yards to lead the Chargers, the top-ranked team in this week’s Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll, to their eighth win without a loss.

Scott Miller caught three of Johnson’s touchdown passes en route to catching a total of 6 passes for 130 yards. Tight end Mike Hoelker caught the other touchdown pass on a three-yard reception in the middle of the second quarter. That put El Toro ahead, 21-2.

Irvine took the early lead when the El Toro center snapped the ball over the head of punter Shane Brisbin. The ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety.

Johnson then threw scoring passes of 42 and 49 yards to Miller before the short toss to Hoelker.

The play that crushed Irvine was a 60-yard interception return for the touchdown by El Toro’s Davin Jackson. With Irvine at El Toro’s 42-yard line, Jackson stepped in front of a sideline pass thrown by Irvine quarterback George Koutures and gave El Toro a 28-2 halftime lead.

Irvine (0-3, 1-7) scored its first touchdown early in the second half when Koutures threw a 76-yard scoring pass to tight end Scott Joslyn. Ron Goodlin later added a 12-yard touchdown run to cap the Vaqueros’ scoring.