Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writers
Photos by Emiko Essmiller
Photography Editor
The South Pasadena Tigers outmatched the La Cañada Spartans 28-10 on Friday, Nov. 1, seizing the league title in the process for the first time since 1976. During the game, the entire field was enveloped in a fierce battle between strong offensive plays and determined grit. In a postgame interview, sophomore running back Rick Matsuda said, “It’s all down to our offensive line…they pulled through better than I could have ever asked…Everybody did good, everybody did their part, everybody did their best.”
To begin the game, the Spartans kicked off to the Tigers, who started at their own 34-yard line. The Tigers commenced their momentum towards the end zone, with junior running back Trey Freking gaining an immediate 6 yards for the Tigers to the 40-yard line. However, the Spartans held up a tight defense, preventing the Tigers from making any major progress. With little chance of scoring in sight, junior kicker Nicholas Dragonas punted the ball to the Spartans. In a turn of events, the Tigers recovered the kick at the Spartan 27-yard line, making major progress toward the touchdown line.
Despite their second chance, the Tigers only ended up getting to the 19-yard line, and possession was given to the Spartans. Immediately, the Spartans progressed to their 40-yard line, something that would hint at what was soon to come. Charging down the field, the offense continued to make massive leaps of progress toward the touchdown line. Eventually, the Spartans arrived at the 6-yard line, passing the ball to score the first touchdown of the game and bringing the score to 7-0 in La Cañada’s favor.
To begin their possession, the Tigers received at the 24-yard line, still full of spirit. Despite the iron-tight defense of the Spartans, the Tigers fought their way to the 44-yard line, which was when the first quarter came to an end.
Quickly recovering, the Tigers sprinted onto the field for the second quarter, still in the fight. Several running plays presented the opportunity for Matsuda to break through the Spartans’ defense for a touchdown. Along with Dragonas’s one-point conversion, the score tied at 7-7.
The two teams stayed locked in a fierce battle without any progress on the scoreboard. However, when pressured by the Tigers’ offense or attempting to score points, the Spartans used all of their available timeouts. This left the team vulnerable to an onslaught of furious and well-coordinated offensive plays by the Tigers in the later half of the game.
The third quarter began as the Tigers kicked off to the Spartans, who received the ball at the 29-yard line. By the fourth down, however, the Spartans had made little progress and chose to punt to the Tigers. After receiving the ball at their own 48-yard line, Freking ran the ball a total of 15 yards to the Spartans’ 37 in two consecutive plays. Put in the winning position, sophomore quarterback Andrew Nott threw a pass to senior wide receiver Jordan Rodgers, placing the Tigers in the lead 14-7 after the one-point conversion was successful.
Determined to once again even out the score, the Spartans began their possession at the 35-yard line and started their journey to the end zone. The Tigers attempted to hold a strong defense, but the Spartans were unrelenting in their rush towards the end zone. After a pass was made to the 11-yard line, a penalty was called due to offensive holding, placing the Spartans at the 23. Once two more incomplete passes occurred, the Spartans used their fourth down to try for a field goal. They were successful and brought the score to 14-10, slowly evening out the count.
Throughout the rest of the third quarter, neither team made any major progress, with defense holding strong on both sides.
The Tigers slowly inched closer to the end zone through sheer determination, breaking through the Spartans’ weak defense through bold fourth-down plays. However, the team was stopped 10 yards out and forced to punt the ball to the Spartans. From there, the Spartans would work their way into cracks left in the Tigers’ defense, encroaching on the Tigers’ side of the field. However, Rodgers intercepted a sloppy pass from the Spartans’ offense and brought it down to the 3-yard line through a series of running plays, the Tigers’ effectiveness growing like a domino chain. There, Matsuda ran deep into the heart of the Spartan defense, steamrolling them into the end zone for a touchdown to bring the score to 21-10 in the Tigers’ favor.
With the score difference growing drastically, the Spartans’ abilities in the game seemed to stiffen and slow down. After receiving a punt from the Tigers, the Spartans made negligible progress and punted the ball back into the Tigers’ hands. Mere moments after receiving this punt, Freking broke through the warped defense of the Spartans into the end zone. The Tigers led 28-10.
The Tigers punted the ball back to the Spartans for a final couple of plays before the sound of whistles rang across the field. The Tigers had beat the La Cañada Spartans 28-10, winning the league title for the first time since 1976. La Cañada finished third in league.
“They’ve done a great job just improving each week, learning from their mistakes and being competitive…I’m very proud of them,” Head Coach Jeff Chi said.
The team has grown far beyond where they started in skill and camaraderie. “In the beginning, we didn’t have as much chemistry as we would have liked, but as the season progressed, we got more and more chemistry. We gelled,” Freking said in a postgame interview. Throughout the season, the Tigers have overcome innumerable challenges and strifes, growing to become the team that presented themselves on the field today; a team ready to face any opponent with all their might.
