LA MIRADA – What a difference a year makes.
After losing to Tesoro last season by 29 points La Mirada rebounded Friday night and held on to defeat the Titans, 26-23, in a nonleague game at La Mirada High.
Former Servite wide receiver Tony Brown caught two long touchdown passes that proved to be the difference for the Matdores (1-0).
“It was very difficult leaving Servite but I’m comfortable with my new team,” said Brown, who caught four passes for 135 yards and two TDs. “Our team executed and never gave up tonight.”
Tesoro coach Matt Poston gave La Mirada credit for the victory.
“You have to give them credit, they beat us,” said Poston. “You always worry about the first game of the season. This is a wake up call for us. We have a ton of things to work on.”
Trailing 12-7 at the half, Tesoro (0-1) took the second half kickoff and marched 70 yards in 12 plays to retake the lead, 15-12.
Anthony Battista capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run. Gunner Garn then completed the two-point conversion on a pass to Carter Jaenichen.
La Mirada countered with a 10-play, 83 yard scoring drive to retake the lead 19-15. Nick Hernandez raced in from 12 yards with 1:53 left in the third quarter.
With under five minutes to play Brown caught a pass from Christian Lara over the middle and outran the secondary 53 yards to the end zone giving the Matadores a, 26-15, lead.
The Titans cut the lead to 26-23 with 1:59 to play after Devon Modster completed an 11-yard TD pass to Jaenichen. Modster then ran the two-point conversion in.
The game came down to the final series as the Titans failed to stop the Matadors deep in their territory. Lara completed two crucial passes to Landon Jones to seal the victory.
Modster completed 21 passes for 204 yards and two TDs and Jaenichen caught 8 passes for 100 yards and a TD. Lara finished with 14 completions for 239 yards and two TDs.
Midway through the opening quarter the Titans broke on top 7-0 after Battista caught a 9-yard TD pass from Modster.
Later in the quarter Tesoro was on the move again in La Mirada territory but cornerback Vance Blackwell picked off Modster’s pass and blazed down the sideline 78 yards to cut the lead to 7-6.
The Matadors upped its lead to 12-7 on a 56-yard TD pass from Lara to Brown with 5:28 left in the half.
“Our O-line played well but our offense struggled at times,” said La Mirada coach Mike Moschetti. “But they came up with two huge plays late in the game to close it out.”