LAS FLORES – Different philosophies produce different results.
Tesoro played a physical brand of football late to erase a seven-point deficit as they came away with a 28-21 overtime victory over La Serna.
Chase Petersen scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1 and the Titan defense stripped Matthew Marshall as Vinnie Vladic fell on the loose ball ending the game.
The Titans forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime with the final takeaway ending any chance of the visitors from Whittier spoiling homecoming night.
Early on Tesoro (4-1) used a big-play spread offense while La Serna opted for a bruising runs between the tackles and short passes to gain yardage.
The first half featured long calculated drives downfield by both teams.
The Titans struck first with the explosive combination of quarterback Petersen and wide receiver Shane Coleman. They hooked up for a 41-yard reception and then again for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give Tesoro a 7-0 lead.
The Lancers responded with a punishing ground game led by Marshall, Alfonso Ibanez and Brandon Jimenez. La Serna marched 68 yards on 11 plays on a drive that culminated with a 3-yard TD run by Jimenez that evened the score 7-7 with 9:27 left in the half.
In the third quarter, the Lancers took a 21-14 the lead when Marshall scored on a 14 yard run.
The Titans answered the call again with a swift comeback.
Trailing in the fourth, Coleman and Petersen connected again for 18-yard score with 7:14 left in the game. Coleman had nine catches for 133 yards and two TD’s.
Jimenez broke off a long run on that gave La Serna excellent field position with a chance to win the game with a late field goal. The Lancers gambled with a deep throw on the next play that was intercepted which gave Tesoro a shot to win by forcing overtime.
