Oaks Christian & Bellevue (WA) Headline Mission Viejo Kickoff Classic

by Jeff Fisher
California High School Football Huddle

The 2011 Mission Viejo Football Classic, with six games in two days, will get football off to a flying start in Orange County.

Headlining the event will be a showdown Saturday night between nationally-ranked Oaks Christian and Washington-power Bellevue, winners of eight Class 3A state titles in the last ten years.

Oaks Christian enters the game ranked #21 by MaxPreps.com, Bellevue holds down the #22 spot.  It's the season opener for both teams.

Bellevue lost several starters from last year's team that captured the school's third straight state title, including their starting quarterback and its top rusher.  Oaks Christian needs to find a replacement at quarterback as well, but Ishmael Adams, who rushed for over 1,000 yards, is back.

Bellevue is no stranger to playing out-of-state powers, having played De La Salle (Concord, CA), Long Beach Poly (CA) and Katy (Texas) over the the last decade.

Oaks Christian is building a national reputation, having sent several players into the NFL over the last decade, including Jimmy Claussen of the Carolina Panthers.  Over the last ten years, OC has amassed a 136-14.

Aside from the eight teams from California, Utah has the second most teams in the Mission Viejo Classic with Bingham, Alta and Timpview traveling to SoCal.

Mission Viejo opens its season ranked #11 by USA Today faces Centennial of Bakersfield tonight.

Here's a look at the rest of this weekend's schedule in Mission Viejo:

Friday, September 2nd
Cypress vs. Garces
Centennial-Bakersfield vs. Mission Viejo

Saturday, September 3rd
Bakersfield vs. Timpview (UT)
Crenshaw vs. Alta (UT)
Orange Lutheran vs. Bingham (UT)
Oaks Christian vs. Bellevue (WA)