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Football: CdM’s streak ends

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LAS FLORES — Matt Poston stood on the opposing sideline the last time Corona del Mar High lost a football game. It was two years ago, and Poston wasn’t the head coach at Tesoro, the Sea Kings’ opponent on Friday.

Poston guided another team, Capistrano Valley, when the Sea Kings suffered their previous setback. He seems to have found the recipe for success against CdM.

Coming up with key turnovers and breaks on special teams worked the last time for a Poston-led team against CdM, and it did so again. Tesoro ended the Sea Kings’ 30-game winning streak, beating them, 28-14, at home.

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Poston has bookend wins against CdM, coming almost two years apart. He played up the game against the team that boasted the longest active winning streak in the state.

“I’m not going to lie. How can you ignore it?” Poston said. “The kids see it. [Reporters] write about it. It was part of our thing, ‘Hey, we’ll try not let them get to 31.”

The Titans (4-1) stopped CdM (4-1) in its tracks, taking advantage of the Sea Kings’ miscues, and there were plenty. The Sea Kings roughed up the kicker three times, one led to seven points. The Sea Kings fumbled three times, two led to touchdowns.

The third fumble turned out to be the backbreaker. With CdM on Tesoro’s 39 and down, 21-14, with around 4 minutes left, a bad snap ended the Sea Kings’ night. Quarterback Peter Bush couldn’t handle the low snap, and the ball got away, bouncing behind him. Cornerback Matt Buoncristiani scooped the ball up and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown.

Tesoro jumped to a 14-point lead with 3:57 to go. Almost a minute later, Buoncristiani picked off a Bush pass on Tesoro’s 35-yard line. He tried to return it for a touchdown, before going down on CdM’s 31. Time was running out on the Sea Kings and their impressive run.

“The turnovers killed us,” CdM Coach Scott Meyer said. “I don’t know what we ended up with, four or five of them, and the bad snap on that punt [midway through the first quarter cost us seven points]. A lot of mistakes.

“We lost the game. The streak’s over. We never really talked about it.”

A lot was said going into the matchup featuring the top-ranked teams from the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division (CdM) and West Valley Division (Tesoro).

Tesoro’s starting tailback, Anthony Battista, used to play for CdM. He transferred to Tesoro four months after the Sea Kings capped a historic 16-0 season with a CIF State Division III Bowl Game win in December.

The Sea Kings held Battista in check for the most part, limiting the junior to 50 yards on 18 carries and 16 yards on three catches. He outgained CdM’s starting tailback, Jaydin Moses.

Moses started the game, but he exited after fumbling on his third carry in the first quarter. Cole Martin, the running back Moses replaced after Martin suffered a right sprained knee injury two weeks ago, saw action for the first time. He rushed 11 times for 44 yards, and Meyer admitted that Martin wasn’t his usual self.

When Martin entered, CdM trailed, 14-0, late in the opening quarter. Quarterback Devon Modster rushed for a one-yard touchdown and he hit Jake Smeltzer on a 60-yard touchdown pass. Tesoro became the first team to have a lead against CdM this year. The last time the Sea Kings played from behind was against Northwood in the first quarter of a regular-season finale on Nov. 8.

Bush evened the score at 14-14 with his right arm. Bush, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 213 yards, and CdM opened the second half in a big way. Bush, on a play-action pass, fooled the secondary, which left wide receiver Cole Collins wide open near the 45-yard line. Collins, who finished with six catches for 129 yards, hauled in the pass and raced in for an 80-yard touchdown.

Tesoro responded. The Titans delivered three big plays on third down. The final one was a 26-yard touchdown run by Modster to give Tesoro a 21-14 lead with 7:56 left in the third quarter.

The Sea Kings failed to score again, halting their winning streak at 30 games. The stretch matches the 10th longest in CIF Southern Section history.

“We have a week off,” said Meyer, whose team opens Pacific Coast League play at Irvine on Oct. 10. “We’ll get some guys healthy. We haven’t won three [straight section] championships for, you know, any reason like we’re going to quit. We’ll make another run.”

Tesoro 28, Corona del Mar 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 0 – 7 – 7 – 0 — 14

Tesoro 14 – 0 – 7 – 7 — 28

FIRST QUARTER

T – Modster 1 run (Matlin kick), 4:12.

T – Smeltzer 60 pass from Modster (Matlin kick), 3:09.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Bush 4 run (Neiger kick), 5:38.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Collins 80 pass from Bush (Neiger kick), 11:47.

T – Modster 26 run (Matlin kick), 7:56.

FOURTH QUARTER

T – Buoncristiani 53 fumble return (Matlin kick), 3:57.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Martin, 11-44.

T – Battista, 18-50.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Bush, 11-16-1, 213, 1 TD.

T – Modster, 14-28-2, 180, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Collins, 6-129, 1 TD.

T – Smeltzer, 4-90, 1 TD.

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