Tago-Led Tesoro Handles Hart, 35-21

No, I didn't spend the evening in Santa Clarita, but I did watch Tesoro's season-opening football game against Hart of Newhall at College of the Canyons Friday night on my laptop, tuned into the first week of Fox Sports West's impressive "Prep Zone."

Here's what I saw...

The Titans led at the end of the first quarter, 8-0, on junior Nate Tago's five-yard run and two-point conversion after a roughing-the-kicker call against Hart, but the Indians came back early in the second quarter on a long touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Conner Wingenroth to trim their deficit to 8-7.

With two minutes left in the half, Tago took a swing pass from senior quaterback Matt Adam and carried it 44 yards for a touchdown, but the missed extra-point kick left the Titans with only a 14-7 lead.

Tesoro's Austin Tacheny recovered a fumble at the Hart 43 with less than a minute to play in the half. Adam then connected with a leaping Kyle Woolbright for a 36-yard pass to the Indians' seven-yard line. Tago followed with a sweep of the right side and his third touchdown of the game. Kicker Zach Schottenfeld connected on his first PAT of the night to give the Titans a 21-7 lead.

Tago had 150 yards of offense, including 63 rushing yards on five carries, in the first half. He would finish with nearly 200.

“I just told my [offensive] linemen, 'Get me a hole and I’ll make the rest happen,'" Tago told the Orange County Register. "That’s what they did. The thing you do with linemen is just give them compliments. That gets them fired up and makes them want to block more."

Chazz Roberts had two big sacks in the first half for Tesoro and Woolbright broke up a long pass late in the second quarter with a tremendous hit on the intended Hart receiver.

Lots of penalties so far, as the game's announcers pointed out, but it is the first week.

Hart took the second-half kickoff but went three-and-out and was forced to punt. Adam connected with Tago for a 28-yard pass play that gave the Titans a first down on the Indians' 30-yard line. Adam scored on a 27-yard draw to put Tesoro ahead, 28-7, with 6:47 to go in the third quarter.

On the ensuing Hart possession, Tesoro's Nick Crouch intercepted a pass at the Indians' 43-yard line. It was the third turnover of the night for Hart. Later in the drive, a pitch to Tago resulted in a three-yard touchdown, his fourth of the night -- he had only eight all last season, according to the game's announcers -- to give the Titans a 35-7 lead with six minutes left in the quarter.

Wingenroth connected with freshman wide receiver Trent Irwin for a 12-yard touchdown pass one minute into the fourth quarter to trim Hart's deficit to 35-14. The two hooked up again for a 20-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the game to make the score 35-21.

An onside kick attempt was recoverd by Tesoro at its 45-yard line, and the Titans ran out the remainder of the clock for the impressive victory.

Next Friday, Sept. 9, the Titans will meet neighborhood rival Santa Margarita in the second annual "Rumble at the Ranch" at Saddleback College.

Video on this game can be found here at ESPNLA.com.