MidValleySports.Com

By Alex A. Gonzalez

South Pasadena – It was the 71st meeting between the South Pasadena Tigers and San Marino Titans on Friday night at South Pasadena High School. Not only did the winner obtain the coveted Crowley Cup, but they also had a shot at a Rio Hondo League title. 

With all that said, the Tigers (5-4, 3-0) took care of business against their cross-town rival by defeating the Titans (3-5, 1-1) 30-22 behind Trey Freking’s 41 carries for 259 yards and three touchdowns, retaining the Crowley Cup for the second consecutive year and repeating as Rio Hondo League champs. 

“It’s the second year in a row for me, and it’s amazing to experience this right now,” commented Freking after the game. “We still have some things to clean up, but we came out and executed like we wanted to and we got the win.” 

San Marino was the first to strike after Alex Navridis picked off Andrew Nott’s pass that set the team up at their 21-yard line. Three plays later, Miles Morning took the handoff, bounced off a Tiger defender, and bolted his way to the endzone from 47 yards out. 

The Tigers then played keep away on their next series by consuming the remaining 6:02 in the first quarter. Of the 12-play drive that ended in six, the offense only passed the ball once, which was completed to Grayson Ebner for 18 yards. The remaining went through the ground game with Freking touching the ball, which resulted in his 1-yard touchdown run just as the second quarter started. 

The Titans had a chance to regain the lead on their next possession, but Nick Acuna’s 38-yard field goal attempt was short, and the score stayed at seven with 9:02 remaining in the half. 

The missed field goal opened the door for Freking and Co. as they were able to take the lead after the offense pounded the Titans’ defense into the ground. Freking and Rick Matsuda traded carries for the entire eight-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in Freking notching his second rushing touchdown of the night at the midway point of the second quarter. 

San Marino blocked the point after try, keeping South Pasadena’s lead at 13-7, but when they had possession, Parker Wilson mishandled the snap and fumbled the ball back to their rivals. 

With the ball placed at the Titan 37-yard line, the Tigers’ ground game was established as they only needed five plays to get Freking his third rushing touchdown of the night just before the Homecoming festivities. 

After the break, South Pas double-dipped at keeping the ball away from San Marino as they took the entire third quarter to make their way down the field to set up Nicholas Dragonas’ 25-yard field goal attempt.  The offense called running plays on all of their 16-play drive that chewed up 66 yards. Then, with 40 seconds left in the frame, Dragonas extended the lead to 23-7 after his kick sailed through the uprights. 

San Marino was able to respond on their next possession as Wilson put the offense on his back and carried them to the endzone. After a 20-yard run by Wilson and a completed pass to Mavridis for 16 yards that set the team within striking distance, Wilson dropped back to pass and connected with Emmanuel Samaniego for the score. Following a successful 2-point conversion thanks to Wilson, San Marino made it a 23-15 game with 8:46 in the fourth quarter. 

It did not take long for the Tigers to punch back as they went back to Freking, who was able to muster his team to the 13-yard line. The offense then pulled a fast one on the Titan defense as they faked the handoff to Freking, which led Ebner to be wide open for his touchdown reception from Nott, increasing the lead to 30-15. 

San Marino was able to get one last score before the final buzzer after Wilson completed 3 of 6 on his passing attempts for 39 yards. His final pass attempt went to Morning, who was running the wheel route, who then bulldozed his way into the endzone for the score. However, when the team lined up for the onside kick, they could not recover the ball, and South Pasadena was able to knee its way to victory. 

With the victory, the Tigers have locked up their second consecutive Rio Hondo League title and will wrap up their season next week when they travel to Temple City. For San Marino, they will look to stay in second place when they travel to Monrovia next Friday night. 

“I’m looking forward to the playoffs and hopefully we can make it past the semis,” said Freking when talking about the postseason. “We have been stuck there for the past four years, it seems like, so hopefully we make it to the chip and see what happens there.” 

Since 1955, South Pasadena and San Marino have played for the Crowley Cup, which was named after former mayor and community leader Paul Crowley.