Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writers
Photos by Emiko Essmiller
Photography Editor
The Tigers swept the Panthers on Friday, Oct. 4, celebrating the 86th annual Color Day. Their momentum grew exponentially as their score kept on racking up throughout the entire game. Head Coach Jeff Chi explained that the Tigers “did a lot of preparation for this game…mentally getting ready, and…physically to take care of it on the field.”
The first quarter began with the Panthers winning the coin toss, but deferring the choice to the Tigers, who chose to receive. After receiving the ball at the 38-yard line, the Tigers lost possession in a collision and the Panthers recovered the ball. From there, the Panthers made little progress, ultimately failing their fourth down at the 42-yard line.
On South Pasadena’s first down, junior running back Trey Freking ran the ball to the 40-yard line, gaining 18 yards for the Tigers. After a few more plays, senior running back David Ortega ran the ball to the 27-yard line. Carrying the momentum forward, senior tight end James Dowd received a pass from sophomore quarterback Andrew Nott at the 8-yard line. After a few more yards gained, Freking ran the ball to the endzone, scoring the first points of the game, with sophomore kicker Lorcan Swift making the one-point conversion. This brought the game to 7-0.
After this, the Tigers punted to the Panthers, who received the ball at the 17-yard line. The Panthers ran the ball to the 35-yard line, but were stopped by senior free safety Jacob Chuang. However, this yard gain was short-lived, as they received a 10-yard offensive penalty and fumbled the ball, turning it over to the Tigers.
Beginning at the 32-yard line, the Tigers made progress, eventually making their way to the 19-yard line. In the following play, Ortega gained a crucial 18 yards for the Tigers, planting them at the 1-yard line. From there, Ortega again slipped through the defense, making another touchdown and bringing the score to 13-0, as the two-point conversion failed.
To begin the last part of the first quarter, the Tigers punted a touchback and received a punt back after the Panthers made minimal progress. However, a few plays after the Tigers gained possession, a pass was overthrown and intercepted by the Panthers, who ran the ball to the 6-yard line before being tackled by Nott. Despite their opponent’s location only a few yards from the endzone, the Tiger defense held strong until the end of the first quarter.
Starting the second, Poly ran the ball into the end zone with a 1-point conversion. The score was now 13-7. Wasting no time, the Tigers jumped back into action after receiving the punt at the 41-yard line. After a series of instantaneous plays, the Tigers found themselves 5 yards from the end zone. Riding the wave of success, Ortega steamrolled disoriented Poly defenders into the end zone for a touchdown, and Swift secured a 1-point conversion; the score was now 20-7. Although the Tigers had been in the lead before, the touchdown shifted the game’s atmosphere; the Tigers would now be controlling the game.
After receiving the Tigers’ punt, Poly remained stagnant offensively, grasping for straws. While trying to avoid the Tigers, Poly’s quarterback lobbed the ball deep into the field, allowing Eisenberg to catch it off the fingertips of a receiver for an interception. However, the Tigers made little progress and punted back to Poly. The Tigers took the first timeout to regroup as they approached the end zone. After several successful runs, the Tigers were provided a crack in Poly’s defense for Dowd to catch a pass in the end zone. Added on with a successful 1-point conversion, the Tigers brought the score to 27-7.
During halftime, the marching band shifted the excitement and energy of the game towards a stunning performance. Handled with well-rehearsed coordination and flare, the performance highlighted the ever-lasting perseverance of humankind. The stands were in awe, the air was ecstatic with ambition, and the cheers of Tigers fans riled up for a dominated second half.
Trudging back onto the field, Poly had little success offensively. Balls were ferociously grounded by the Tigers’ defense with incomplete passes racking up by the second. Poly was forced into punting the ball back to the Tigers, whose short passes allowed for giant progression. Proceeding to rub salt in the wound, Nott threw a dime gliding past the fingertips of two Poly defenders straight into the hands of senior wide receiver Jordan Rodgers — another touchdown, and a successful 1-point conversion for a score of 34-7.
The Tigers’ constant drilling left Poly distraught and knocked off of any hopes for recovery. Just a few plays after receiving a punt by the Tigers, Poly threw another interception at the 36-yard line. Without resistance, the Tigers seamlessly made their way to the 16-yard line before Eisenberg coasted into the end zone. The score had risen to 41-7 with a successful 1-point conversion by Swift. Ending the quarter, Poly was frozen in their tracks, punting the ball back to the Tigers for the final stretch.
To begin the final quarter of the game, the Tigers started at the 43-yard line after losing 8 yards from a sack. Despite this early setback, the Tigers made major progress toward the end zone, with Ortega running the ball to the 27-yard line. After a few more plays, Freking eventually ran the ball to a touchdown, bringing the score to 48-7 after the 1-point conversion was made. The Tigers’ defense continued to hold strong after they punted, eventually gaining back possession after a fumble.
The Tigers hit the ground running with a running play but were unable to get anything out of it. However, after this, they began to make progress, as senior running back Kevin Camarillo made consecutive running plays to put the Tigers at the 24-yard line. From there, the ball continued to be run until the Tigers found themselves at the 7-yard line. To end their possession, Camarillo ran the ball into the endzone, marking the final score of the game, 55-7. After this, Polytechnic was unable to slip through the defense and the game came to a close.
Throughout the game, every South Pasadena player managed to not only hold back but dominate against Poly players. In a postgame interview, Ortega stated, “It all starts just with your confidence…you need to compete in yourself to beat the other team.”
Overall, the game was a one-sided victory, dominated by the Tigers with a solid defense and aggressive offense. The Tigers’ season record is now 4-2, the team constantly improving from their last game. When asked how the team continues to grow, Chi commented on the results of the game saying, “Even though we have a huge win, there are still mistakes that we made…we gotta learn from those and make it better for next week.”
The team hopes to hold onto this momentum for a league match against South Pasadena’s rival, San Marino, on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. away.
