Tesoro wins shootout with Mater Dei

LAS FLORES - It came down to offensive firepower Friday night, and Tesoro had just enough to beat Mater Dei.

Mater Dei kicker Zac Chocek came up short on a 47-yard field goal attempt as time expired as the third-seeded Titans edged Mater Dei, 38-35, in a thrilling Pac-5 Division quarterfinal game in front of overflow crowd at Tesoro.

The Monarchs and quarterback Matt Barkley began their last drive at their 16-yard line with 1:24 left but drove to the Titans' 30. On first down from the 30, Barkley spiked the ball with 12 seconds left and threw an incompletion with three seconds left. Mater Dei had no timeouts left.

With third-and-10, Chocek took to the field. His attempt looked straight but dropped short. “Wow, that was a barn-burner," Tesoro coach Brian Barnes said. “I knew it would come down to the wire. I was just hoping it wouldn't come down to the last play."

The final minute of the game also featured a scary injury. With 30 seconds left, Mater Dei two-way standout Christian Maldondo took a hard hit while trying to make a sliding reception near midfield. Maldonado was taken off the field on a stretcher.

“The good news is when he was leaving on the stretcher, once they got all his gear off, the pain was subsiding and he had movement in the extremities," Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said. “So they were very encouraged when they took him off."

Rollinson said Maldonado's pain was in his neck and back.

“They think it is real bad whiplash," Rollinson said.

Tesoro (12-0) advances to play Orange Lutheran in the semifinals Saturday. The Lancers, 24-14 winners against second-seeded Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, will be the home team.

Tesoro led 31-21 at halftime. The Titans' lone score of the second half came on a 1-yard touchdown run by fullback Issac Tago with 9:51 left in the fourth. Tago's score capped a 72-yard, 11-play drive as the Titans took a 38-28 lead. The biggest play on the drive might have been running back Zach Mitchell's recovery of what appeared to be a fumbled snap from Mater Dei's 12. Mitchell advanced the ball to the 3, and two plays later, Tago barreled in to put Mater Dei (8-4) down by 10 for the fourth time.

But like each time it trailed by 10, Mater Dei cut the lead to three. On the Monarchs' next possession, running back Jordan Allen dived into the corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown run with 5:45 left as Mater Dei cut the deficit to 38-35.

Tesoro intercepted Barkley four times in the first half, returning two for touchdowns.

Tesoro cornerback Preston King intercepted a third-and-5 pass and raced 32 yards for the first points of the game with 6:48 left in the first.

Early in the second quarter, cornerback Brett Gudim intercepted Barkley on a third-and-9 and dashed 45 yards for a touchdown as the Titans led 17-7.

“Our defense played tremendous in the first half," Barnes said.

Mater Dei's defense held after two other picks. The Monarchs also cut Tesoro's lead to 24-21 on Jaron Hytche's 49-yard touchdown run with 1:59 left in the first half. But Tesoro responded with a 7-play, 73-yard scoring drive that quarterback Robbie Picazo  capped with a 23-yard TD pass to Zach Bevan with 25 seconds left in the second.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com