Marcellus Chrishon

School: Mission Viejo High

Sport: Football

Position: Running back

Class: Senior

Despite his small stature (5 feet 10, 150 pounds), Chrishon wore down the Capistrano Valley defense and in the second half wore it out. Chrishon gained 99 yards in the second half and scored two touchdowns--on runs of 39 and 23 yards--in the fourth quarter as the then-No. 6-ranked Diablos pulled away from then-No. 2 Capistrano Valley and won, 28-13. Chrishon’s totals for the game--165 yards in 26 carries--gave him 905 yards for the season, sixth in the county. “He has blazing speed,” Coach Mike Rush said. “We haven’t seen that around here for a long time.” This is only Chrishon’s second season of high school football. He played sparingly as a sophomore at Maryvale High in Phoenix and sat out last year after transferring to Temecula Valley High. Before the season, Mission Viejo coaches had thought Chrishon, who also plays free safety for the Diablos in key situations, would play mostly defense, but in practice it became clear that he should be carrying the ball on offense. “It’s amazing how good he would be if he had played the three years,” Rush said.

Other top performers:

* Quoc Pham, who rushed 17 times for 199 yards and two touchdowns in Costa Mesa’s 51-14 victory over Laguna Beach Friday.

* George Sanchez, who rushed 13 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns, blocked a field-goal attempt and returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown for La Quinta, a 43-14 winner over Bolsa Grande Friday.

* Nick Sanchez, who completed five of six passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns in Whittier Christian’s 42-8 victory over Ontario Christian Friday.