Tesoro's regular season ends perfectly

DANA POINT - Tesoro coach Brian Barnes received the customary Gatorade bath following the Titans' 56-26 victory over Dana Hills on Friday night that clinched the South Coast League title.

Top-ranked Tesoro (10-0, 5-0) completed a perfect regular season for the first time in school history. It also is the second consecutive league championship for the Titans.

The Dolphins (5-5, 2-3) finished in fourth place in the South Coast and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year. (Full game stats.)

"It's awesome," Barnes said of the league title. "To be 10-0 and No. 1 in the county, did anyone think that would happen when I was hired two seasons ago? It's paid off well.”

Dana Hills trailed 28-13 at halftime, but started strong in the second half. After recovering a fumble near midfield, the Dolphins narrowed their deficit to 28-20 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Sean Schroeder to Dylan Denso.

The Titans were facing fourth down on their next drive, but Robbie Picazo found Zach Bevan  for a 37-yard scoring pass, and Tesoro led, 35-20. It was Bevan's second touchdown reception.

"That was huge," Picazo said. "That gave us some breathing room and the defense just shut them down from there.”

Bevan's touchdown catch was the start of 28 consecutive points for the Titans, capped by Brett Gudim's 35-yard interception return. Gudim had just scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass before picking off his second pass.

"We have so much talent that if you put some of our kids on other teams, they would be the stars,"Preston King said.

Tesoro began the game with a 60-yard interception return by Trevor Weis  on the Dolphins' opening drive. Isaac Tago  followed with a 2-yard score on the next drive and Tesoro was in front, 14-0.

The Dolphins answered with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Schroeder to Peter Adams, then added a field goal to trail 14-10 early in the second quarter.

"It is big," King said of the South Coast repeat. "After going 1-9, everyone thought last year was a fluke.”