LAS FLORES — Tesoro blew a 21-point lead as La Serna pulled off a thrilling comeback for a 28-21 victory in a nonleague football game Friday night at Tesoro High.

Owen Long scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Lancers on a 10-yard run with 24 seconds remaining.

His brother, quarterback Jake Long, lined up for a potential game-winning field goal on the previous play, but a penalty on the Titans gave La Serna another chance to shock the home team and snatch a win.

Lancers coach Andy George marveled at his team’s relentlessness.

“That’s the thing about our football team, we never quit,” George said. “We don’t have any type of quit in our DNA, and tonight it was just an incredible night out here. Our guys showed what we are made of. I can’t say enough about the effort and the determination to fight back, down 21-0 and come away with a win.”

Senior Jake Long shook off his three first-half interceptions to finish with 218 yards passing, including a 32-yard TD strike to Jayden Northrup in the fourth.

La Serna QB Jake Long talks about his team’s amazing comeback victory over Tesoro 28-21. The Lancers erased a 21-point deficit and Owen Long scored the winning TD. Great game!@SGVNSports @LSHS_Football @jakeplong pic.twitter.com/ASVMUyRNjb

— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) September 10, 2022

“We dug ourselves into a bit of a hole,” George said of the Lancers’ first-half woes. “We didn’t have much of a rhythm on offense but our defense did exactly what they’ve done all year, they kept us in the football game. They’ve been relentless in their pursuit of the ball, they’re physical and they gave us the opportunity to finally put it all together on offense.”

Tesoro used a combination of physical running game and opportunistic defense to take a 14-0 lead thanks to touchdown runs by Travis Wood and quarterback Gavin Shaigineik.

Wood, a junior running back, finished with 111 yards on 22 carries and a pair of TDs.

Dylan Riley had two of the three Titans interceptions on defense in the first half.

The Lancers (3-1), ranked No. 2 in the San Gabriel Valley area, fell behind 21-0 early in the second quarter before Jake Long scored on a 1-yard run with just over 7 minutes left in the first half.

The second half belonged to La Serna as it erased a three-touchdown hole and held the Titans scoreless in the final 24 minutes.

Owen Long made it 21-14 on the first play of the fourth and Northrup’s touchdown catch tied the score before Owen Long gave the Lancers the lead for good.

“We got solid blocking up front and he (Owen Long) did the rest on the final play,” George said of the game-winning score. “All the confidence in the world in him and all of them out there, just an incredible effort.”

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Middle linebacker Adrian Castro played a key role in slowing down Wood in the second half and especially in the fourth quarter when the Lancers forced three punts and secured an interception on Tesoro’s final drive.

The Titans (2-2) will try to end their two-game skid next week against El Toro while La Serna takes on Damien.