Tesoro levels Orange Lutheran to reach title game

SANTA ANA - The Tesoro football team’s first year in the Pac-5 Division was a nightmare.

However, the dreams of a division title are certainly alive in year No. 3.

Behind a strong performance from its offensive line and another standout defensive effort, the Titans defeated Orange Lutheran, 42-14, in a CIF-SS Pac-5 semifinal Saturday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

“We’ve said since day one our goal was to play in a CIF final and win a Pac-5 championship and we’re one step closer,” Tesoro coach Brian Barnes said. “I thought that Orange Lutheran was probably the better team coming into the game, but things went our way … I’m so proud of our effort.

“We were clicking on all cylinders tonight.”

Tesoro (13-0) will face Long Beach Poly in the final Saturday at Angel Stadium at approximately 7:37 p.m. Long Beach Poly defeated Lakewood, 20-10, in a semifinal Friday night.

Long Beach Poly (13-0) is the defending Pac-5 champion.

This will be the first time that Tesoro has played for a title since 2005 when it defeated Northwood in the Division IX final.

Tesoro won consecutive titles in Division IX before moving up to Pac-5 in 2006.

“Three years ago a lot of kids in our program probably wouldn’t have thought this was going to happen,” Tesoro quarterback Robbie Picazo said.

Picazo completed 15 of 21 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn’t sacked.

“The offensive line has been great all year long,” Picazo said. “They’ve given me time to throw and opened up holes for the running backs. They’re the best offensive line in the state and they’ve showed it every week.”

Tesoro’s defense stymied the Orange Lutheran ground attack which rushed for 316 yards in last week’s quarterfinal victory against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. The Lancers finished with 9 yards rushing.

“All week we worked on stopping the run,” Tesoro linebacker John Michael Davis said. “We knew they were a physical team, so we just had to come out and hold them and we did.”

Davis also recorded two sacks. Tesoro sacked Orange Lutheran quarterback Bobby Wheatley four times and intercepted him once.

Tesoro held Orange Lutheran scoreless until late in the third quarter.

“Our defense was tremendous,” Barnes said. “Being an offensive guy, I’ve always been a guy that loves to throw the ball and have fun on offense, but I believe in the saying that offense wins games, but defense wins championships."

The Titans opened the game by scoring on four of their first five possessions.

Zach Mitchell led Tesoro with 108 yards rushing. Preston King had 79 yards receiving and one touchdown.

“This program has come very far,” King said. “We were 1-9 in our first year in Division 1 and a lot of people questioned if we belonged here.

“Coach Barnes came in and completely turned the program around."

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com