Husan Longstreet leads Corona Centennial to victory over Mission Viejo in D1 quarterfinal

Husan Longstreet threw for 236 yards and a touchdown in the Huskies’ big road win Friday night.

Corona Centennial QB Husan Longstreet guided the Huskies to a big Division 1 playoff victory Friday night over Mission Viejo. / Tarek Fattal

MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA - Corona Centennial coach Matt Logan is known for his uptempo offense. Lots of points. Lots of yards. But it was his defense that made the game-winning play with the Huskies’ season on the line.

Mission Viejo was facing fourth down on the Centennial 2-yard line before Jonathan McKinley II came off the edge and applied pressure to Mission Viejo quarterback Drai Trudeau, who scampered into a panic and threw an interception to Fifita Tauteoli-Moore.

On the ensuing possession, Centennial running back Malachi Roby broke for a big run and could’ve scored a touchdown, but instead slid to a knee to keep the ball and run the clock out for Centennial’s 25-20 victory over Mission Viejo on the road in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals Friday night.

HUGE PLAY.

Mission Viejo on 4th down from Centennial 2-yard line.

Interception.

Huskies hanging onto a 25-20 lead with 4:51 to play. pic.twitter.com/QBBNGc7NNU

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) November 16, 2024

Centennial (9-2) will advance to the Division 1 semifinals to take on No. 1 Mater Dei (10-0) at home. It will be the second time the two teams face this year. Mater Dei beat Centennial in Week 0, 42-25.

“Anytime you get a chance to play the No. 1 in the country again, we’ll take it,” Centennial coach Matt Logan said.

Corona Centennial quarterback Husan Longstreet threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for a touchdown. Junior running back Malachi Roby rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Roby’s slide at the end of the game was a microchosm of the pedigree Centennial carried into this game.

“I slid on purpose to make sure we could win the game. I didn’t want to give them the ball back,” Roby said.

Mission Viejo came into the game 10-0 and suffered its first loss of the season Friday night.

Postgame interview with Corona Centennial coach Matt Logan after the Huskies beat previously-unbeaten Mission Viejo 25-20.

Next up: another shot at Mater Dei

“Another chance to play the No. 1 team in the country — we’ll take it.” pic.twitter.com/FhM47F0ygK

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) November 16, 2024

More to come on this story …