Tesoro rolls to 42-14 win and into Pac-5 final

It has been a season of magnificent firsts for Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro High, which notched its first undefeated regular season and the first Pac-5 Division playoff victories in school history.

Now the Titans will attempt to win their first Southern Section championship after throttling Orange Lutheran, 42-14, in a Pac-5 semifinal Saturday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

Tesoro Coach Brian Barnes could have begun his preparations for top-seeded Long Beach Poly at halftime after the third-seeded Titans (13-0) took a 28-0 lead.

The Titans scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and held Lutheran (10-3) to 35 yards of total offense in the first half.

Tesoro will play the defending champion Jackrabbits (13-0) this Saturday at Angel Stadium.

Five players scored touchdowns for the Titans, who utilized some trickery early in the second quarter when receiver Preston King took a pitch from quarterback Robbie Picazo and passed to Brett Gudim for a four-yard touchdown to give Tesoro a 21-0 lead.

Gudim also hauled in a tipped pass at the Lutheran 15-yard line late in the third quarter and ran into the end zone to complete a 61-yard touchdown.

Scotty Williams had 13 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns for Lutheran, which didn’t make it into Tesoro territory until Williams returned a punt to the Titans’ 44-yard line early in the third quarter.

-- Ben Bolch

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Upland 42, Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos 21 -- A five-touchdown barrage in the second half, ignited by the running of Davion Fleming, wiped out a 14-7 deficit and propelled Upland past Baseline League rival Los Osos in a Central Division semifinal.

Fleming, headed to Northwestern, rushed for 140 yards and scored three touchdowns to help Upland (11-2) earn a spot in Friday’s championship game against league rival Rancho Cucamonga.

Los Osos took the second-half kickoff and drove 80 yards to take a 14-7 lead on Arby Fields’ five-yard touchdown run. Then everything started to go wrong for the Grizzlies (10-3).

Fleming broke off a 28-yard touchdown run, followed by Taj Johnson’s six-yard touchdown run. Fleming had another 28-yard touchdown run on a direct snap. Corey Sims recovered a fumble by Los Osos quarterback Richard Brehaut and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. Gianni Olivas made an interception and Fleming came through with a 20-yard touchdown run for a 42-14 lead with 9:44 to play.

Upland’s secondary was effective in denying the big play to the UCLA-bound Brehaut, who completed 11 of 23 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. Credit defensive backs Anthony King, Olivas and Osahon Irabor for Los Osos’ problems.

Los Osos had beaten Upland, 41-28, on Oct. 24 in a league game and hadn’t lost to the Highlanders since 2004.

About the only person who did better than Upland’s players Saturday was a fan who won $1,832.50 in a 50-50 raffle.

-- Eric Sondheimer