Game Blogging: No. 8 Mater Dei at No. 6 Tesoro

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Can anyone stop Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro? The Titans (11-0) play host to Santa Ana Mater Dei in a Pac-5 Division quarterfinal tonight at 7:30. The Times’ Ben Bolch thinks Tesoro will knock off the Monarchs, a year after falling to Mater Dei in the first round of the playoffs.

Coach Brian Barnes helped turn around a program that finished 1-9 two years ago. Tesoro has an 11-game winning streak and is the only team to beat Mission Viejo this year en route to a South Coast league championship.

The Monarchs (8-3) are trying to compete for its first section title since 1999. It wound up in a three-way tie in the Trinity League with Orange Lutheran and Anaheim Servite. They were seeded second thanks to a coin flip. USC-bound quarterback Matt Barkley has helped lead the effort, throwing for 2,644 yards and 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His marks broke an Orange County record previously held by Todd Marinovich (2,589 yards

Here’s some other names to look out for tonight:

Mater Dei

Senior Running back Jaron Hytche (150 carries for 1,140 yards and 24 touchdowns)

Senior Wide receiver Ario Winston (47 catches for 807 yards and four touchdowns)

Tesoro

Senior Quarterback Robbie Picazo (passed for 2,199 yards with 27 touchdowns and four interceptions

Junior running back Zach Mitchell (has 136 carries for 982 yards and seven touchdowns)

Senior wide receiver Preston King (caught 63 passes for 993 yards and 10 touchdowns)

I’ll provide quarter-by-quarter updates at Varsity Times tonight. Stay tuned.

--Mark Medina