WHITTIER — Last week the Pioneer football team made its first trip to the CIF Southern Section finals and won the Division 14 title.

On Saturday it added another championship, beating the Los Angeles City Section’s Panorama 24-0 in the CIF State Division 7-A South Regional final.

Pioneer is not done. It will take on San Francisco’s Balboa in next the 7-A state championship game Saturday at Fullerton High at 11 a.m.

After gaining a comfortable 17-0 lead in the third quarter, Pioneer was able to ice the game when Darean Bullard recovered a fumble and ran with it 25 yards for a score.

“I saw the opportunity, I had to take it home,” Bullard said. “That’s all we’ve been talking about all week and we’ve been working really hard towards it.”

Coming into the game, Pioneer and Panorama seemed evenly matched. The Titans got into the CIF-SS playoffs with an at-large bid after going 5-5 in the regular season. The Pythons finished the regular season with a 4-7 record.

Both teams won section championships a week ago and earned spots in the regional finals.

“The kids were kind of focused at the end of the season,” Pioneer coach Ramon Juarez said prior to the start of the game. “They weren’t sure we were gonna make the playoffs because we were an at-large team. Once we got the opportunity, they really put their nose to the grindstone.”

Throughout the game, Pioneer displayed an excellent brand of football in all three phases of the game. The Titans’ defense forced the Pythons offense into four three-and-outs and gave up only five first downs.

“They did their job, they did what they’re supposed to do,” Pioneer quarterback Amiri Resendiz said of the team’s defense.

The Pythons, who are a run-first offense, ran the ball 31 times for 87 yards. Victor Mendez ran 14 times for 45 yards. In the air, the Pythons passed the ball just once for a 5-yard completion.

Mendez started the year playing fullback but was moved to running back after injuries plagued the Pythons during the regular season.

“We put him at running back and out of nowhere he’s just making non-fullback plays with juking, spinning, hurdling defenders,” Panorama coach Adrian Beltran said. “We were like ‘Wait a minute. This guy can run.’ And he’s durable and a big boy.”

Pioneer had no issues getting its offense going. The Titans scored on their first two drives.

The first was from a 30-yard field goal by Sean Gamon. The second score came on a 3-yard touchdown run by Damian Salguero.

“We worked all year for this,” Salguero said. “We started in January and it’s a long way to come.”

Jose Rojas, who is responsible for catching 12 of Resendiz’s 15 touchdowns this season, scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter. It his 21st touchdown this season.

After dropping two passes that looked likely to result in touchdowns, Rojas found redemption.

As Resendiz continued to trust his favorite target, he threw a ball into the end zone that Rojas juggled around his hands. He was able to haul the ball in and put his team ahead by three scores.