Nipomo got a much-needed boost from its defense in the first half as the Titans rolled to a 23-8 Los Padres League win over Templeton in the regular season finale for both teams, Friday night.

“That was the best half I have seen a Nipomo defense play,” Coach Russ Edwards said. “We had goal-line stands, turnovers, quarterback sacks, just a lot of great plays.”

And the Titans (7-3 overall, 5-2 league) needed that defensive effort to hold off a determined Templeton team in need of a win to clinch a playoff spot. Nipomo was virtually assured of a playoff berth, but the win was still critical, Edwards said.

“We knew that most likely we were going to be the third seed from our league. That being said, we wanted to go into the playoffs 7-3 instead of 6-4,” Edwards said. “Also we were ranked seventh in our division poll last week and a loss would have dropped us out of the top 10. It probably would have meant a much tougher draw in the first round of the playoffs too.”

Nipomo will find out who it will play in the opening round on Sunday when the playoff brackets are announced.

After going three and out on its first possession of the game, Nipomo then fumbled the ball away on its second possession, giving Templeton the ball at midfield. But the Titan defense forced a punt. Again, the Titans went three and out and Templeton was in business at the Nipomo 28 after a 30-yard punt return.

Again, the Titan defense came up big. Templeton had a first down at the 16 but a sack of quarterback Simon Roth by Angel Renden on fourth down.

That seemed to be the wakeup call that the Titan offense needed because one play later, Penningroth found a seam up the left sideline for a 75-yard scoring run and then added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

“We doing some new things on offense and just made some mental mistakes but our defense bailed us out tonight,” Penningroth said. That was his longest scoring run of the season and he finished the night with 154 yards on 17 carries.

Templeton put together a long drive behind running of Christian Gomez, who had runs of 15 and 40 yards as the Eagles drove to the Titan 2-yard line. But on fourth and goal from the two, Gomez was dropped for a 1-yard loss.

Several short runs by Penningroth got the Titans out of the shadow of their own goal-line before Josh Correia connected on five passes, included a 34-yard completion to Kevin Britt to the 6-yard line. On the next play, Penningroth got his second score of the night to give Nipomo a 14-0 halftime lead.

“That was really big. It was nice drive with several nice plays by Correia and Britt. It was a great way to end the half and get some momentum going into halftime,” Edwards said.

A blocked punt by Andrew Van gave Nipomo great field position late in the third quarter at the Templeton 32. The Titans got to the 3-yard line but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Ernie Corona.

On Templeton’s next offensive play, a fumble at midfield was recovered by Akeem King and returned to the 17-yard line. Two runs by Penningroth had the Titans at the three before Correia connected with Britt for the touchdown and a 23-0 cushion.

Templeton’s lone score of the game came late in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run by Tyler Gray, who also carried in the two-point conversion. Templeton finished the year 6-4 overall and 3-4 in league.