Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writers
Photos by Emiko Essmiller
Photography Editor
After a slow first half riddled with errors, the Tigers pivoted the game in their favor, smashing through the Arcadia Apaches 21-6 on Friday, Aug. 30. In a postgame interview, Head Coach Jeff Chi said, “Well, we kind of came out a little flat, [and] we kinda hurt ourselve[s] with our own mistakes and penalties. During half we let [th]em realize the mistakes they were making and we tried to correct that to do a better job [in the] second half.”
The game began with the Tigers receiving the ball and running it down to the 20-yard line. However, despite a solid start to the game, South Pasadena struggled against Arcadia’s defensive capabilities. In one instance, the Apaches managed to slip past the Tigers’ defense and slap the ball out of senior quarterback Cameron Park’s hand, but the Tigers quickly recovered the ball. Throwing salt in the wound, a multitude of penalties from both sides halted the game’s progression and affected South Pasadena’s morale. As the first quarter came to an end, the quiet game was tied at 0-0.
Trudging back onto the field, the Tigers and Apaches remained locked in a fierce battle, each determined to break the other’s defense first. Just after receiving the ball from Arcadia in a touchback punt, Park fumbled the ball after being sacked; this resulted in a shocking touchdown by Arcadia. The Tigers managed to break through the Apaches’ defense just in time to sack their kicker and prevent a one-point conversion. Ending the second quarter with South Pasadena right behind Arcadia, the score was 0-6.
After halftime, the Tigers exploded onto the field with a newfound burst of excitement and energy. After receiving the ball, Arcadia made little progress on the field, opting to punt the ball on their final down. The Tigers received the ball and broke through the Apaches’ defense, making their way to the 53-yard line. With this newfound energy, senior middle linebacker David Ortega scored the first touchdown for the Tigers after pushing past the opposing defense, tying the game 6-6. Riding the momentum of this success, sophomore kicker Lorcan Swift made the one-point conversion and took the lead with a score of 7-6.
With an instant surge of energy and commotion, the Tigers used the fourth quarter to upset the score further in an enrapturing display of skill with Arcadia freezing up and being forced to punt the ball back to South Pasadena. Wasting no time, a series of successful run plays led by junior running back Trey Freking rushed the team to the 3-yard line. With the stands cheering their name, the Tigers handed the ball to Freking, who trudged on through the towering wall of defensive linebackers and into the endzone with Swift making a one-point conversion to raise the score 14-6. The only place to go was up, and the Tigers continued to dominate the final quarter of the game, only aided by Arcadia who continued to make penalties for being offsides or on holdings. Sealing their victory, South Pasadena ran in a final touchdown and brought the final score to a stunning 21-6.
In a postgame interview, Freking gave insight into what changed at the start of the third quarter, saying, “We had a little pep talk in the locker room [and] were on the same page from the second half, and we just, we did what we came here to do.” Indeed the team did as the team solidified their offensive line and locked down Arcadia’s.
Overall, the Tigers had a shaky start but pulled through in the end, securing their first win and a solid start to the season with a 1-1 record. Their next game will be against the Crescenta Valley Falcons on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. on the home field.
