ORANGE — Mission Viejo quarterback Bailey McNeal had to navigate through an interception-minded El Modena secondary in a CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff game between the Diablos and Vanguards on Tuesday night at El Modena High School.
El Modena’s defense won a few battles, but McNeal commanded two scoring drives, including one in the final minute of the game, and that was all the the Diablos needed for a 13-6 victory over the Vanguards.
Mission Viejo’s Bailey McNeal (25) celebrates her first touchdown with her teammates during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Bailey McNeal (25) scores the winning touchdown during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Leah Vanderveen (17) stretches the ball forward as El Modena’s Brooklyn Calderon (44) pulls her flag during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) El Modena’s Kylie Tafua (14) has a long pass go off her finger tips during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) El Modena’s Sofia Ramos (28) intercepts a pass intended for Mission Viejo’s Mia Psarras (1) during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) El Modena’s Halle Calderon (19) eludes Mission Viejo’s Mariana Leifheit (7) and Emily Johnson (16) during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) El Modena’s Brooklyn Calderon (44) finds herself caught between two Mission Viejo defenders during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) El Modena’s Kylie Tafua (14) gets more than the flag on Mission Viejo’s Leah Vanderveen (17) during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Marcilynn Ruvalcaba (15) signals reception but the officials ruled the pass incomplete during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Cody Lambert (13) looks upfield as El Modena’s Brooklyn Calderon (44) reaches for her flag during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Cody Lambert (13) weaves her way through the El Modena defense during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) El Modena’s head coach Steve Tafuatalks with El Modena’s Halle Calderon (19) during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s head coach Darrel Letcher during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Emily Johnson (16) reaches for El Modena’s Kylie Tafua’s (14) flag during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s Cody Lambert (13) stretches for yardage during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Mission Viejo’s flag football team sings the national anthem in front of a setting sun sky before the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) Show Caption1 of 16Mission Viejo’s Bailey McNeal (25) celebrates her first touchdown with her teammates during the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 flag football playoff between Mission Viejo and El Modena at Fred Kelly Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer) ExpandThe Diablos (17-14), who are making their first playoff run since flag football became a sanctioned Southern Section sport in 2023, will play host to Roosevelt of Eastvale in the semifinals Saturday.
The Mustangs defeated La Habra in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
McNeal, a senior, scored both of Mission Viejo’s touchdowns, the first on a 4-yard run in the first quarter to give the Diablos a 6-0 lead.
She also scored the game-winning touchdown on a 5-yard run with 42 seconds left in the game.
“Believe it or not, she is a senior and this is her first year playing quarterback,” Mission Viejo coach Darrel Letcher said of McNeal. “We have a complicated offense and I put a lot of pressure on them, a lot to understand what the defense is showing you and what they’re giving you.”
The first score capped a 56-yard drive and the second capped a 24-yard drive.
Cody Lambert had catches for 19 yards on the game-winning drive.
“I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” said McNeal, who transferred from Aliso Niguel to Mission Viejo before her junior year. “I have so much respect for each of them. They will fight every single minute for me, and I’ll fight every single minute for them.”
The Vanguards (11-11-1) came away with five interceptions, including two by Madison Gallegos.
However, El Modena was only able to convert one of the takeaways into a score.
In the third quarter, an interception from Aryanna Alcala coupled with a personal foul penalty against the Diablos, gave the Vanguards possession on the Mission Viejo 31.
El Modena scored seven plays into the drive on a 3-yard run by quarterback Halle Calderon, who made a pump fake to freeze the defense, then ran into the end zone for the Vanguards’ only score.
El Modena came up empty on two other drives into the red zone.
“We had opportunities,” El Modena coach Steve Tafua said. “Defense gave us a lot of interceptions. We didn’t capitalize on offense We were in the red zone a number of times. We just didn’t execute. When it comes down to the third round, it’s all the little things that matter. We just fell short.”
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