By Saile Ramirez
(South Pasadena)- San Gabriel overcame mistakes and turnovers to beat South Pasadena 27-11 Friday night.
The Matadors struck three minutes into the game on a one–yard sneak by quarterback Isaac Valdez. SG receiver Mark Covarrubias put them in position for the score with a 49-yard run on the Mats first play.
“It always depends on what the defense gives us,” said SG coach Keith Jones. “If the defense is hanging back, playing the pass, we’ll run it.”
On his second drive of the season Tiger quarterback Conor Bednarski dropped back from his own 20 and was picked the Mats Alex Villalobos who returned it to the 15. The threat was stopped by the Tiger’s defense led by senior Joshua Cho. San Gabriel’s field goal attempt was blocked.
Matthew Nelson finally put South Pas on the board with a 30-yard field goal midway through the second.
Fabian Amaro put SG in scoring position with a 94-yard return on the ensuing kickoff. Valdez again added to the SG lead with another one-yard sneak. The Matadors lead 14-3 at the half.
Three turnovers on consecutive possessions by Valdez helped South Pasadena narrow SG’s lead to three in the third. The third one coming on a misconnection between Valdez and Amaro in the backfield and the Tigers recovered in the end zone.
Valdez’s fourth turnover came when he was intercepted by South Pasadena’s Cho in the third.
A well crafted drive by Bednarski had his team 13-yards away from taking the lead, but a poor throw was picked by Covarrubias and the Tigers opportunity disappeared.
The Matadors extended the lead with two more TD runs by Amaro. He ended the night with 277 all purpose yards.
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