Bahr impressive in Diablo win

We were in attendance at last Friday's Mission Viejo (Calif.)- Vista (Calif.) game and had a chance to catch up with one of the state's top offensive lineman, Diablo Matt Bahr. Mission head coach Bob Johnson raved about Bahr prior to the kickoff and after watching the lineman in action, we can understand why.

This was the second time in the last two weeks we had a chance to check out Mission Viejo. The week before, Mission lost a heartbreaker to Mater Dei, Santa Ana 17-14 in overtime. It was a loss that stuck with the Diablos all week long.

"It left bad taste in our mouth, that was kind of the theme all week," Bahr said after the game, a 41-0 win for MV. "Coach Johnson said it was going to stay with it until we had a chance to play again and get rid of it and that's what we were able to do tonight."

The Diablos were dominant up front and Bahr, who plays right tackle, was especially impressive. At 6-4, 265 pounds, Bahr is equally strong at both run and pass blocking. He's very strong and plays with a mean streak. He does a nice job of getting a secondary block on a linebacker or safety after taking care of a down lineman and several times, cleared out the entire right side of the line.

Bahr is impressive in pass protection as well. He has excellent feet, moves laterally very well and does a nice job with his hands.

"He has had a great season for us," Johnson said. "He's very good and is a big time player. He has three or four offers right now and should have double that. He has everything, he's big, has feet and is tough."

Bahr told us after the game he was set to leave the following day (Saturday) for his first official visit to San Diego State.

"I'm looking forward to it, I've heard nothing but great things about the campus and I love the coaches," Bahr told us Friday. "It's my first visit so I really don't know what to expect but it worked out great for me because they play a night game Saturday so I'll have all day to check out the campus and see how the team prepares on a game day.

"Along with San Diego State, Colorado State and Wyoming have also offered and I've gotten calls from Washington, Utah, Washington State, Arizona and Boise State. All my other trips will be after the season, Coach Johnson really doesn't like us to take out visits during the year but this one worked out well for us. I'm getting my film out to a lot of colleges as well so hopefully that will result in a few more offers."

Editors Note: For a recap of Bahr's visit to SDSU this past weekend, check out the story by Adam Munsterteiger of AztecSportsReport.com - Matt Bahr visit