LAS FLORES – Devon Modster wasn’t about to get comfortable in the opening round of the CIF-SS West Valley playoffs. Still, Tesoro’s Arizona-bound quarterback could have napped with the amount of time he had in the pocket during Friday’s flawless first-half performance.
The Titans, buoyed by Modster’s 298 passing yards in the first two quarters, breezed past visiting Great Oak of Temecula, 49-3.
Third-seeded Tesoro (9-2), which has outscored opponents, 183-37, during its three-game winning streak will travel to Rancho Cucamonga for a second-round meeting next week.
“Our coaches prepared a well-schemed offense,” said Modster, who had five touchdown passes and one rushing TD. “Our offensive line did a phenomenal job.”
The senior quarterback completed 21 of 28 passes for 399 yards. Two of his completions traveled more than 50 yards, including a 51-yard hook up with Braden King for a score on the first drive of the second half.
“You always want to come out and play well in the first (playoff) game,” Tesoro Coach Matt Poston said. “Devon is just cool, calm and collected….We didn’t expect anything else from him.”
The Titans scored on their first seven possessions. Modster opened up the rout on Tesoro’s second play from scrimmage, showcasing precision passing when he dropped a 30-yard fade into the hands of Spencer Heinsius inside the far corner of the end zone.
Modster then added a 2-yard TD pass to Justin Bautista on Tesoro’s following possession, and, with a shade more than three minutes left in the first quarter, he found Heinsius (three catches for 104 yards) again on a wide-open, 63-yard TD catch.
The Titans tacked on three more scores in the second quarter, highlighted by Modster’s 16-yard strike to Bautista.
Great Oak punted on six of its seven first-half possessions. The Wolfpack’s lone scoring drive came on Tanner Kuljian’s 43-yard field goal, which cut the halftime deficit to 42-3.
Great Oak (5-6) played without running back Demetric Felton (shoulder), a UCLA-commit, and key wide receiver Connor Strode (back) due to injuries.
“We’ve probably had 12 kids miss games with injuries,” Wolfpack Coach Robbie Robinson said.
“Every time we had adversity, these guys met the challenge. This is the fourth year in a row our team has been in the playoffs, and that’s a huge step for us as a program.”
Modster was a perfect 10-for-10 on pass attempts in the second quarter for Tesoro, which racked up 348 yards in the first two quarters.
The Tesoro defense forced four turnovers, including two fumble recoveries and a King interception, while also recording five sacks.
