Titans Trounce Eagles, Advance to D-1 Title Game

It’s hard to believe that eight weeks ago the Poway Titans and the San Pasqual Eagles played to a 17-17 tie, yet in the Division I semifinal game at Poway High Thursday night, the Titans blew out the Eagles 51-28 in front of a packed house.

“We really improved since that game and our kids had a lot of confidence," said Poway coach Damian Gonzalez. "We've been playing well and our kids just did a great job.”

The Titans (11-0-1) started out strong defensively, forcing the Eagles to go three-and-out on their first three possessions, gaining only three total yards.

While the defense was forcing San Pasqual to punt, the Poway offense was taking advantage, scoring on three consecutive possessions, using only six offensive plays to do so.

The three scoring plays were a 6-yard run by Evan Grey, a 54-yard run by Nehemiah Gross and 55-yard pass from Gabriel Isaak to Isaiah Gross.

“What helped us out in the first half was field position,” Gonzalez said. “That was the name of the game. We capitalized on some special teams punts and I think that was the big difference early on.”

The Titans scored three more times by halftime, padding their lead to 41-14 and essentially putting the game away.

The last time the Titans faced the Eagles (8-3-1) they were without Isaak, who completed six of eight passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.

“Gabe Issak really, really managed the game well,” Gonzalez said. “He had some great passes tonight. That one to Derek Babiash I thought was going to be an interception, and he put that where nobody could get it.”

Nehemiah led the running attack, scoring both of his touchdowns in the first half. He carried 11 times for 212 yards and received the MVP rock.

“Nehemiah was great, what a heck of a game by that kid,” Gonzalez said. “He ran hard and was able to make moves in the open field and run people over.”

The Titans running game racked up 355 yards, taking the pressure off Isaak.

“Any guy can step up at anytime in the game, and it's great to have so many weapons back there,” said Isaak. “It opens up the pass a lot more and it's good I can rely on the running back to get the job done. I'm loving it.”

With the win the Titans advance to face the No. 3-seeded Vista Panthers (7-5) in the Division I title game Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium.

With the quick turnaround between games, the preparation for the championship game will be different than in past weeks, with the team squeezing three practices into two according to Gonzalez.

“We're fired up for Monday and we'll get back to practice tomorrow and Saturday," said Poway defensive end Brian Guendling. "We're excited.”

Scoring Recap

San Pasqual    0       14        7        7     --   28

Poway          21       20      10        0     --   51

First Quarter

P: Evan Gray 6yd run (Jason Diaz kick)  8:34

P: Nehemiah Gross 54yd run (Jason Diaz kick)  6:45

P: Isaiah Gross 55yd pass from Gabe Isaak (Jason Diaz kick)  5:42

Second Quarter

P: Jason Diaz 29yd FG  11:11

SP: Mackenzie Hines 92yd KO return (Eric Olivares kick)  10:59

SP: Alfredo Campos 44yd run (Eric Olivares kick)  7:14

P: Jason Diaz 34yd FG  5:20

P: Nehemiah Gross 68yd run (Jason Diaz kick)  1:26

P: Derek Babiash 25yd pass from Gabe Isaak (Jason Diaz kick)  0:35

Third Quarter

P: Jimmy Moreno 5yd run (Jason Diaz kick)  5:53

SP: Alfredo Campos 2yd run (Eric Olivares kick)  3:55

P: Jason Diaz 33yd FG  1:18

Fourth Quarter

SP: Conner Nielsen 48yd pass from Sebastian Tengan (Eric Olivares kick)  3:17