ANAHEIM - Long Beach Poly could barely muster a first down for most of three quarters, but the top-seeded Jackrabbits rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 9 minutes and 40 seconds to pull out a 20-17 victory over Tesoro in the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division football championship on Saturday night at Angel Stadium.

Senior running back Melvin Richardson scored on a 60-yard run that gave Long Beach Poly its first lead, 20-17, with 2:56 remaining.

Richardson broke two tackles as he burst up the middle, then he cut right and took off down the sideline. Two Tesoro defenders had a shot at Richardson and tried to knock him out of bounds. But Richardson tip-toed down the sideline and made it all the way into the end zone.

“Things happen,” Tesoro coach Brian Barnes said. “Poly makes plays.”

Tesoro had one more possession that started at its own 43 after a 41-yard kick return by Preston King. But the Titans failed to advance the ball any further.

On fourth down, Tesoro quarterback Robbie Picazo dropped back to pass and got drilled by Iuta Tepa as he released the ball. It fluttered to the ground incomplete and that was it for Tesoro's championship hopes.

The Jackrabbits ran out the final 2:02 and celebrated their 18th championship, and second consecutive Pac-5 title.

“They have been doing that all playoff season,” Long Beach Poly coach Raul Lara said of his team’s ability to come from behind.

Long Beach Poly (14-0), which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state by CalHiSports.com, is expected to face De La Salle of Concord in the Open Division state championship game Saturday at The Home Depot Center.

The Titans (13-1) were making their third trip to the finals, but this was their first in a major division. Tesoro won back-to-back Division IX titles in 2004 and 2005.

“Our kids played their tails off,” Barnes said. “We proved we can play with the big boys. Everybody says South County teams can’t compete in Pac-5, but not only did we compete, we had a chance to win.”

Long Beach Poly's offense spent most of the first half going three-and-out, but the Jackrabbits put together a strong scoring drive on its first series of the second half.

The Jackrabbits marched 66 yards in 11 plays, going 3 of 3 on third-down conversion attempts, on a drive that took 6 minutes and 24 seconds off the clock.

One of those key third-down conversions came on a third-and-10 play when Cory Westbrook scrambled 11 yards for a first down.

On the very next play, Richardson went off left tackle, turned upfield and went 22 yards for a touchdown to tie it, 7-7.

Tesoro responded with a quick 5-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Picazo overshot Brett Gudim when he went deep on Tesoro's first possession of the second half. This time, Picazo went deep for Gudim and connected for a 51-yard touchdown. That put the Titans up 14-7 with 2:03 left in the third quarter.

The Titans had great field position on their next drive, starting from Long Beach Poly's 45. They drove down to the 14-yard before settling for a 31-yard field goal by Ian Sellar to open up a 17-7 lead with 9:40 left.

The Jackrabbits didn't go without a fight. They came back with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

Long Beach Poly quarterback Morgan Fennell came through with a clutch pass on fourth-and-4. Fennell got off the pass as he took a tremendous hit and connected with Damon Smith for a 24-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-13 with 6:48 left.

The Jackrabbits got back-to-back penalties while trying to get the extra-point off. When kicker David Skara finally got the point-after attempt, Tesoro's Tanner Hodgdon came flying in to make the block.

Tesoro had great field position on its first three possessions of the game, starting at Long Beach Poly's 26, 38 and 38.

“We choose to stay positive the whole time,” said Fennell, who became the first Long Beach Poly quarterback to win back-to-back championships. “As you know, in the playoff games, we’ve been down a lot. But in the locker room everybody stays settled and poised.”

The Titans first possession resulted in a punt.

Tesoro drove to the Jackrabbits' 12 on its second possession before Picazo tried to force a pass in to Zach Bevan that got picked off by Long Beach Poly strong safety Stanjarivus McKay in the end zone.

But the Titans hit pay dirt with a 9-play, 38-yard scoring drive on their third possession. It wasn't easy against Long Beach Poly's stingy defense.

The big play came on third-and-goal from the 10 when Picazo pitched it to King on a reverse. Picazo took off downfield and King passed it to him. Picazo made a great finger-tip catch before getting knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line.

The Titans went for it on fourth down, handing it off to fullback Isaac Tago. He plowed into the end zone for the touchdown to give Tesoro a 7-0 lead with 8:54 left in the half.

Long Beach Poly never threatened in the first half. The Jackrabbits deepest penetration came when they got to the Titans' 49 late in the half, but that was it.

Tesoro limited Long Beach Poly to three first downs and 44 yards of total offense in the first half. The Jackrabbits like to pound the ball on the ground, but they managed to get only 15 yards on 15 carries.

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com