"When you're up on the stage its so unbelievable, unforgettable, how they adore you."---Supertramp. Friday night was Stevie Yortsos moment in time; 3 touchdowns, a pick, 107-yards rushing.
(San Marino)- Stevie Yortsos scored three touchdowns, made a key pick, and rushed for 107-yards, but it was a 53-yard run with 3:15 to play that helped ice San Marino’s 19-14 victory over Temple City Friday night.
The win was the Titans first over the Rams since 1997, and it also secured for them, by virtue of an earlier coin flip, second place in the Rio Hondo League.
The way it came about was all Yortsos.
“He’s one of our go to guys,” said San Marino head coach D.R. Moreland. “When stuff needs to get done we go to him. You can stick him anywhere.”
With 7:35 to play in the fourth Titan quarterback Joe Forgatch went 6-yards to Yortsos, who did a toe tap in the end zone, and San Marino had a 19-14 lead.
(The two-point conversion failed).
Temple City starting at its own 20, moved the ball to the San Marino 43 with 4:35 to play. On a third and eight Justin Smith went deep, looking for David Spratt but the ball found a leaping Yortsos instead.
The Rams defense quickly forced San Marino into a third and 13 from its own nine. With 3:15 to play the ball was given to Yortsos. In a play for a program as long storied as SM’s is, it should be remembered Yortsos was hit after taking the ball, hit at the line of scrimmage, collapsed upon by a wall of defenders and spun out of all of it to go 53-yards to the TC 38.
“I can’t say enough about him,” sad Moreland.
With 3:01 left the Rams defense rebounded and on a third and seven piled up Benny Hung running to his left. Hung remained on his feet, momentum was stopped, but from deep in the secondary a flag flew in.
The call was defensive holding against Temple City, which made it first and ten Titans and SM after one play went into the victory formation.
With the team kneeling for its post-game debriefing, San Marino Principal Loren Kleinrock informed the squad it had already earned the tie-breaker by coin flip and would go to CIF as the second place team from the Rio Hondo.
Explosion. The Titans erupted, the fans, for so long the dormant constituency, erupted. For the first time since 1995 San Marino would enter the playoffs higher than a third place team.
At the other end of the field Temple City head coach Anthony White was informing his players of the coin flip results. The Rams would need to get back on the bus, head west on Huntington Drive to South Pasadena High School and face La Canada in a California Playoff for the third place spot. Right then.
With one 1:52 to play in the first quarter when Yortsos hauled in a wounded duck toss by Forgatch from 14-yards out. Yortsos added the conversion.
TC came back when Smith went 23-yards to Spratt. Drew Tinsley made the point after to tie score.
Twenty-seconds later, after a kick-off return by Sam Winston brought the ball to the Rams 36, Forgatch hit Yortsos on a bubble screen. Which, you guessed it, Yortsos took to paydirt.
The all important extra-point was missed. The Titans led, but only 13-7.
With 6:37 to play in the first half Smith went 20-yards over the top to Brandon Pultz, Tinsley added the single, and Temple City had a 14-13 lead they would hold until the fourth quarter.
“This is huge for the program,” said Moreland. “With all the history, this is huge.”
Note: It will be in a separate story, but La Canada in the third round of overtime took a 15-14 victory over TC to lock up the third place spot in the Rio Hondo. This bounced the Rams from the post-season for the first time since 1997.
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