Sports
Football: Tesoro 43, La Mirada 14
Tesoro puts on a show in the debut game of Head Coach Matt Poston.
Matt Poston was a defensive coordinator for Tesoro when it reached the 2008 Pac-5 championship and eventually went on to become head coach at Capistrano Valley. On his return to Tesoro, this time as the man in charge of the Tesoro sideline, Poston's defense was flying to the ball and the offense was far less conservative than it was under Brian Barnes.
Score: Tesoro 43, La Mirada 14
Key Stats: Jon Rivera rushed for 208 yards and scored four touchdowns, of 7, 6, 11 and 45 yards for the Titans.
Pivotal Moment: A little more than two minutes after taking a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, the Titan defense gave the ball back to the offense and sophomore quarterback Devon Modster threw a 23-yard TD pass to Jake Smeltzer to go up 20-7.
Pivotal Moment 2: The Titans scored twice in the last three minutes of the first half, stretching the 20-7 lead to 34-7 as Modster ran for a touchdown from 1 yard and Rivera scored from 11 with 31 seconds left.
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Records: Tesoro (1-0), La Mirada (0-1)
Notes: Coming off a 9-2 season, La Mirada was No. 2 in the Southern Section Division VII Southeast preseason rankings. … Modster was rarely under duress, thanks to the protection of his offensive line, and finished 16 of 24 for 186 yards and no interceptions. … The Tesoro defense was aggressive and seemed to gang tackle all night. It forced three turnovers, including two interceptions. … The Titans offense seems to have a far more creative playbook than previous years. It was an outstanding first game for Tesoro, which is supposed to be in rebuilding mode.
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Next: Tesoro plays host to Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (1-0) on Sept. 6.
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