Football falls in rival matchup against San Marino

By Ryan Nakamura
Staff Writer

Photos by Matt Scholtz
Photography Editor

With regulation coming to an end, the football team suffered its first defeat of the regular season after falling to San Marino High School by a score of 41-20, away, on Thursday, October 27. South Pas now stands with a 3-1 Rio Hondo League record.

San Marino began the game with an onside kick to try and gain the first possession of the night. This would later be ruled South Pasadena’s ball at the 46 yard line after the kick failed to make contact with the ground.

The Tigers kicked of the night with senior receiver Jalen Ross tallying two receptions for a total of 40 plus yards to put the ball inside of the Titans’ red zone. Senior quarterback Adam Arellano sealed the drive with a quarterback sneak into the endzone for a Tiger touchdown, 46 seconds into the game. South Pas missed the PAT to make the score 6-0.

San Marino countered with a run-heavy offense against the smaller Tigers to reach the endzone after a six minute drive, starting from their own 26 yard line. South Pas fired back on offense with senior receiver Ben Quirk chalking up 30 yards catches to help the Tigers reach the Titans’ 25 yard line. Arellano continued to exploit San Marino’s secondary after connecting with Ross off of a slant route for a 16 yard pickup. Ross muscled in the final nine yards to the endzone 10:13 into the second quarter for a score of 13-7. Earlier on the drive, senior offensive lineman Joshua Hwang was helped off the field after suffering an undisclosed leg injury which sidelined him for the rest of the game.

San Marino implemented the same run oriented offense seen in its earlier drive, chiseling away at the Tigers’ defense. Coming up at fourth and four yards to go on the South Pas side, San Marino managed to convert a crushing 22 yard touchdown pass as the Titans’ quarterback found a receiver in the endzone to make the score 14-13.

The Tigers’ attempt at converting on fourth down in the following drive resulted in South Pas turning the ball over at their own 48 yard line, giving the Titans ideal field position to score again. San Marino capitalized on this to score a third touchdown before the half ended to make the score 20-13.

San Marino continued to run against South Pas throughout the third quarter, scoring two more touchdowns without having to throw the bal. On the other side, South Pasadena’s offense failed to convert on any of its third down drives, forcing the Tigers to punt.

South Pasadena’s lone offensive touchdown in the second half came after junior running back Jackson Totleben rushed for a 76 yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. By this point in the game, it would be too little and too late for the Tigers to make any dent in the score, with South Pas failing to convert any further offensive progress.

South Pasadena hopes to remain in contentions for first place, despite being tied with San Marino, in their next matchup against Monrovia High School, at home, on Friday, November 4. Next week’s game is also the Tigers’ final RHL game of the season, as well as senior and homecoming night.

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