Football: Tritons Beat Tesoro, 31-6, to Finish Second

A regular season that began with so much promise but also its share of controversy and uncertainty, ended with a convincing 25-point victory and the realization that expectations, no matter how large, can be achieved with the right approach.

“To be honest with you, my expectation is that we’re going to go into every game and perform the way we’re capable of,” said San Clemente coach Jon Hamro, who succeeded Eric Patton in mid-August following accusations of kickbacks involving an athletic supply company. “Once things started going, I thought we were going to win every game. That’s our mindset going in. Did we exceed expectations? No. I have higher expectations. We all do.”

San Clemente completed a near-perfect season Thursday night after its 31-6 victory over an overmatched Tesoro squad in a South Coast League finale at Thalassa Stadium in San Clemente.

The Tritons (9-1, 4-1), ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division coaches' poll, finished second in league behind No. 2 Mission Viejo (8-2, 5-0), who they lost to by seven points a couple weeks ago.

The Tritons now will have to wait until Sunday to see who they will face in the Pac-5 playoffs and if they will host a first-round game for the first time in a long time.

“We knew this could have been out last home game, so we came in real pumped up. We came out ready to play,” said quarterback Travis Wilson, who made memorable his final regular season start for San Clemente before going off to the University of Utah by completing 17 of 21 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. “It’s been a really great season. Hopefully, we’ll get a home game in the first round, and we’ll be ready.”

San Clemente played like a playoff contender after Tesoro struck first in the opening quarter, scoring on a 65-yard pass from Matt Adam to Syd Reynolds. However, the extra point was blocked by senior Christian Tober, who missed tackling Reynolds near midfield and allowing the speedy junior to score untouched down the sideline.

“It happens a lot to DBs, and everybody sees your mistake, Tober said. “But I started to get back into it after that. I’ve blocked a few kicks this season, and I blocked that one to help the team a little bit.”

It didn’t take long for the Tritons to come back — 1:24 to be exact. On the third play, Wilson found Herbert Gamboa down the sideline, and Gamboa cut inside to take the pass 55 yards for the tying touchdown. Bret Miller’s PAT gave the Tritons a 7-6 lead.

From there, it was all San Clemente. In the second quarter, the Tritons went 84 yards in 13 plays, scoring on an eight-yard run by senior tailback Mike Elespuru (18 carries, 86 yards) with 1:48 left. Tesoro got the ball back on its 31, but Matt Adam's pass was intercepted by Tober at the Titans' 49. Six plays later, Miller kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired and the Tritons led, 17-6.

“San Clemente is a good football team. We came out flat and never got going,” Tesoro coach Brian Barnes said. “We made a good play to start the game but they just outplayed us tonight. We came out flat this week in practice. I don’t know why. We gave it our all last week against Mission [in a 14-7 loss]. We just ran out of gas.”

San Clemente scored twice more in the second half, once on a 22-yard pass play from Wilson to Chad Foster, and then, to cap a 10-play 69-yard drive, Nick Pasquale squeezed in from four yards.

The Tritons finished with 413 yards total offense and committed only three penalties for 35 yards. Tesoro finished with 231 yards and was penalized seven times for 45 yards. The Tritons also doubled-up Tesoro in first downs, 16-8.

“We played well in all three phases of the game,” Hamro said. “We mixed it up. We got a lot of movement on offense to keep [Tesoro] on their heels a little bit. And then once we got our run game going and play-action, getting Travis moving and going in different directions, I thought it was good.”

Tesoro (6-4, 2-2), which secured a playoff spot three weeks ago, finished third in the South Coast League and likely will have a first-place opponent on the road when the playoffs begin next week. However, despite back-to-back losses, Barnes said he is optimistic that his team can bounce back and play well in the first round.

“We played two great football teams [in Mission Viejo and San Clemente],” Barnes said. “Both teams are ranked in the top 10 in CIF. We aren’t going to see too many teams better than them in the playoffs. Hopefully we get a little healthy this week.”

And as for San Clemente, the Tritons are just hoping for a good draw and a first-round home game.

“We’re excited about our opportunities in the playoffs,” Hamro said. “We’re hoping for one [home game]. It’s been a long time. We’re starving for it. It could be the best-attended game in the county.”


GAME STATISTICS

                                  1     2     3     4   --   T

Tesoro                       6       0     0    0   --   6

San Clemente           7     10     7    7   --  31


  

                                Tes         SC

First Downs                8           16

Rushing Yards           101       162

Passing Yards           130        254

Total Net Yards          231        413

Turnovers                    1           0

Penalties-Yards        7-45      3-35

SCORING

1st Quarter

Tes – Adam 65 pass to Reynolds (kick blocked), 5:21

SC – Wilson 55 pass to Gamboa (Miller kick), 3:57

2nd Quarter

SC – Elespuru 8 run (Miller kick), 1:48

SC – Miller FG 37, 0:00

3rd Quarter

SC – Wilson 22 pass to Foster (Miller kick), 5:41

4th Quarter

SC – Pasquale 4 run (Miller kick), 11:12