By Rich Whittington
(South Pasadena) – South Pasadena running back Jason Hong, Number 22, definitely made his presence known Friday evening, leading the host Tigers to a 43-35 victory over the visiting Yucca Valley Trojans, in front of a large and vocal assembly at South Pasadena’s Tiger Stadium.
To say that Hong had a big night would be a gross understatement. He had a HUGE night, carrying the ball 37 times for 281 yards and four touchdowns. The Junior scored on runs of, coincidently, 2 yards, 2 yards, 2 yards, and 19 yards. Jason’s rushing talents served not only as a scoring mechanism, but also expanded the Tigers’ possessions, while keeping the dangerous Yucca Valley offense safely on the sidelines.
Adding to South Pasadena’s scoring total was Matthew Takasugi, who found the end zone on a 16-yard run. Also getting into the scoring column was wide receiver Richard Conti, who connected receiver Nick Eshom for a 14-yard TD pass off of a fake Field Goal attempt. Rounding out the Tigers’ scoring was kicker Aidan Kinney, who converted four PAT attempts and a 26-yard Field Goal.
Yucca Valley was never far away during the contest. In fact, the Trojans matched South Pasadena virtually stride-for-stride throughout the game. Where South Pas did the majority of their damage on the ground; Yucca Valley scored the majority of their points through the air. Sophomore quarterback Michael Ramos, Jr. tossed four TD passes…one each to Javin Hudson (36 yards), and Malachi Harper (6 yards), and two to his favorite target, Myles Harper (70 yards, and 11 yards). Ramos would end the evening completing 10 of 12 passes for 205 yards, as well as the 4 scoring passes. Additionally, Ramos scores on a 2-yard run. The final points for the Trojans were added by K Nicholas Cruz, who successfully converted all five of his extra point attempts.
With the win, South Pasadena improves to 9-3, and will host the St. Margaret’s Tartans next Friday, November 11. Kickoff for this contest is scheduled for 7:00PM. Yucca Valley finishes the 2022 season with a record of 7-3, 5-1 in Desert Valley League play.
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