1 of 16
LA CAÑADA— The South Pasadena football team left no dispute and no room for argument as to which team is best in the competitive Rio Hondo League. The Tigers grabbed momentum in the second half to turn a 7-7 halftime tie into a 28-10 victory over La Cañada on Friday night to claim the league championship.
This is South Pasadena’s first outright league title since 1976. The Tigers shared the league crown last year with San Marino and Monrovia.
“This is exciting for our program, our players, our coaching staff, our school and our community,” South Pasadena head coach Jeff Chi said. “This is a huge accomplishment and I’m so happy for our boys. I’m so proud of the way they played.”
With the win, South Pasadena (8-2, 5-0) will head into next week’s CIF-Southern Section playoffs on a six-game winning streak. La Cañada (8-2, 3-2) finished third in the league and will qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
“I’m feeling great about how the season played out,” said South Pasadena running back Trey Freking, who rushed for 120 yards on 22 carries against the Spartans. “I have high hopes for what we have in front of us in the playoffs. I hope we can keep executing like we’ve been doing throughout league.”
The Tigers outscored La Cañada 21-3 in the second half. Chi and Freking said they both credited adjustments on offense that were made at halftime.
“We watched (La Cañada’s) films and they’ve been in a certain defensive front all year long,” Chi said. “And they came out with a different look tonight. It took us a little while to figure out what we needed to do because they had an extra (lineman) in there. Second half, we made some adjustments and we were able to run the ball a little better.”
Chi said the coaches noticed the Spartan secondary was playing up.
South Pasadena took advantage of that in the third quarter. Quarterback Andrew Nott faked a handoff and found wide receiver Jordan Rogers open in the middle of the field for a 37-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead.
Nott finished with 104 yards passing, completing six of eight attempts.
It was 14-10 halfway through the fourth quarter when Rogers came up big again for South Pasadena. He intercepted a Joe Bell pass at the South Pasadena 44-yard line and returned it 45 yards to the La Cañada 11.
Running back Rick Matsuda punched the ball into the end zone from 3 yards out a few plays later to put South Pasadena up 21-10. That was Matsuda’s second touchdown run of the game.
A holding penalty and three incompletions forced La Cañada to punt on its next drive. Freking then put the game away two plays later when he broke through the line for a 53-yard touchdown run with 3:57 left to put South Pasadena up 28-10.
La Cañada was led by running back Sohan Garg. He rushed for 90 yards on 18 carries. Bell rushed for 62 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown. He completed 4 of 20 passes for 87 yards.
The score was tied at halftime. Both teams focused on their strong running games.
La Cañada rushed for 104 yards in the half. The Spartans outgained the Tigers in the half in total yards, 158 to 87.
La Cañada struck first, taking a 7-0 lead with 3:30 in the first quarter when Bell kept the ball for a 6-yard touchdown. That capped an eight-play, 82-yard drive. The highlight was a 32-yard pass from Bell to Garg on a wheel route down the left sideline on a third-and-5 at the La Cañada 40, giving the Spartans the ball at the Tigers 28.
South Pasadena answered on its next drive. The Tigers got the ball at their own 24. They used 11 plays to march 76 yards to tie the game. It wasn’t easy though. South Pasadena faced a fourth-and-goal at the 1. Matsuda got the call and took the handoff to plunge into the end zone.
La Cañada faced a fourth-and-5 at the South Pasadena 24 on its next drive. The Spartans initially lined up to go for it but a timeout was called and the field goal unit was sent onto the field for a 41-yard try. Quest Swan’s kick had plenty of distance but was wide.
The Spartans had another opportunity to take the lead before halftime. They took over at their own 40 with 40 seconds left. A 35-yard run by Bell and a pass interference penalty gave La Cañada the ball at the Tigers 13 with two seconds left. However, Swan’s field goal bounced off the crossbar.
Both teams will find out Sunday who they will face in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs, including their division.
“It’s like I have a huge second family,” Freking said. “Every single person on this team is my friend. Every single person has my back and I have theirs. The energy is amazing—every practice, every game. It’s just amazing to be a part of this program.”