MISSION VIEJO, Calif. – The Mission Viejo football team does not shy away from working hard. Every hit, every pass, and every play is practiced and perfected.

The boys take a cue from their head coach Chad Johnson. Johnson knows that as one of the few public schools still competing in the Division 1 playoffs for the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section, the odds aren't always in their favor.

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"I think there’s a lot of rules that are stacked up against public schools and so I think that’s the main reason there’s been this giant gap," Johnson said. “There’s rules in fundraising, when you can go to school there, rules on the contact you can have with eighth graders and seventh graders that aren’t at your school yet, and more."

According to Johnson, these rules have skewed a lot of the talented pool of players in Southern California, sending athletes that might normally attend a school like Mission Viejo to private schools outside of their districts. As a parent, Johnson said he understands why some might choose the private programs over the traditional public schools.

“I’m certainly going to put my kids in the best situation possible," Johnson said. "And if that means that my local public school, if that is not a good situation because of all the different rules then I would absolutely look at taking my kids somewhere else.”

As a former offensive coordinator at St. John Bosco, he sees both sides. It is why he is uniquely qualified to lead the charge for change, but he needs other schools to get behind him, and that has proved to be a difficult challenge.

“If the rules change and you’re allowed to work harder, you’re allowed to be involved in youth football, you’re allowed to go out and get kids to shadow, that means public schools have to do more work than I’m doing now," Johnson said.

Fortunately he, like his team, doesn't shy away from a challenge. Although the gap between private and public schools is growing more and more evident, his players say they do have one specific advantage.

“What I think you gain with public school football is a lot of times you grew up with these guys, you played pop warner with these guys, these guys have been living in your area for your entire life," said Lance Keneley, a junior defensive end on the team.

It is players like Keneley who Johnson said make his roster special in comparison to some of the private school teams.

“They’re just there for football, to win games, get a scholarship and get out of there. These kids are more of a family," Johnson said.

The team is a family that will continue to fight for and play for each other as they begin their playoff journey against Servite on Friday night.

They have a tough road ahead, but Mission Viejo knows what it is like to win. Johnson said, they just want an equal playing field to make it happen.