The Nipomo Titans had a hard time holding onto the ball in Friday night's season finale against Bishop Diego - turning the ball over four times on the ground as well as once in the air.

“We're the king of turnovers,” said Titans coach Jon Hitchen, following his squad's 31-23 loss. “I think maybe we led the nation in turnovers. I think we probably averaged four (per game).”

But despite the turnovers, the hosts were still in it down by eight with 1:50 remaining and starting field position at their own 15-yard line.

Sophomore quarterback Mason Sperakos hit junior receiver Brent Seguine on three consecutive passes and then hooked up with senior Mike Neal for a 16-yard gain before finding senior Lucas Marsalek for a first-down pass to the Cardinal 33-yard line.

“I was kidding him before the start of the game. He didn't look like a sophomore any more. When we were warming up, he looked like a junior and maybe after 10 games that's about where he is,” said Hitchen of Sperakos. “He's a player. We love him. We know he's going to be really good down the road.”

But after Marsalek picked up eight yards on the ground and Bobby Heredia was stuck for no gain, Sperakos threw incomplete to Seguine, was sacked for a seven-yard loss and, on fourth-and-17, tossed a final incompletion with 11 ticks left.

“We asked them to play hard for four quarters and give it a great effort for the seniors and I think they did that,” said Hitchen. “I'm proud of them. It's been an uphill battle for four years and nobody ever quit.”

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Bishop Diego kneeled the ball one time to run out the clock and up its overall record to 6-4 (3-3 in the Tri-Valley League).

Nipomo finished up its season at 1-9 overall and 1-5 in the Los Padres League - earning only a 14-13 victory over Santa Maria.

“We're not dead yet,” said Hitchen. “That's it for this year, but we have a bunch of guys who laid the foundation for us to come off that next year and play pretty well and have a good shot.”

The Titans shot themselves in the foot on their opening two drives, fumbling on only their second play from scrimmage and then on the fourth play of their second possession.

The Cardinals took advantage of both with tailback Jacob Sandoval rambling in from 34 yards out on his first carry of the night and then quarterback Christian Winnewissur hitting receiver Kevin Duley for a nine-yard touchdown pass. With 8:16 remaining, the Cardinals were already ahead 15-0.

After the Titans were stopped on four consecutive plays inside the Bishop Diego five-yard line, they kept their composure and got into the end zone on Marsalek's eight-yard interception return for a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion made it a 15-8 game.

Bishop Diego did not stop though, as Sandoval ran in a 19-yard touchdown to extend to a 21-8 lead.

Before the half, Nipomo retaliated with Sperakos hitting junior receiver Sebastian Dechert for a 43-yard touchdown pass. The Cardinals weren't done either, making it 24-15 at the break on Craig Kohler's 27-yard field goal.

The Titan defense came up big to open the second half with senior Paul Manosar recovering a fumble, but Sperakos threw an interception to halt a Nipomo drive at the Bishop Diego 19-yard line.

Six plays later, Sandoval (22 carries for 93 yards) walked into the end zone from two yards out to put the Cardinals up 31-15 with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter.

Nipomo fumbled on its next two possessions, but Manosar picked off a pass to end one Bishop Diego drive and then the Titan ‘D' forced a quick three-and-out to open the fourth quarter.

The offense responded with a 10-play, 49-yard scoring drive capped by Chris Lemus' two-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to eight with 7:23 remaining.

But after forcing another Cardinal punt, Nipomo could not complete a last-minute drive where it needed a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie.

“We had the two-point play, too. We were all set,” said Hitchen. “We needed one more catch.”

It was the final game for 21 seniors listed on the Nipomo roster, but the team is filled with key underclassmen who will return next season.

“Manosar, Marsalek and (Ben) Cannon have been there every day. There's nine or 10 of them that played (varsity) as sophomores,” said Hitchen. “They went out there and got pounded for a year and a half and now they're playing pretty well.”

The coach added: “We're exciting about the progress we made in a year. 1-9 is still 1-9, but a year ago we were in three games and this year we were in seven games. I hate moral victories, but I love these kids and they worked hard and they deserve to walk off the field proud.”

Nov. 12, 2005