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After another Monrovia touchdown late in the third quarter, South Pasadena High football coach Jeff Chi encouraged his players to continue battling and not to give up.
“Keep your heads up,” Chi told his defense after the Wildcats scored their final points of the night. “Got to keep on working.”
By then it was 41-0 as Monrovia was on its way to their second Rio Hondo League victory while the Tigers fell to 2-6 overall in a season in which the offense is struggling mightily to score. South Pasadena, 0-2 against league opponents, faces Temple City next Friday at home in the traditional homecoming game before closing out the season the following week on the road against La Canada.
Just putting some points on the board against the Rams will be a milestone of sorts as the Tigers have been shut out the past three weeks, losing to Eaglerock 68 – 0, San Marino 50-0 and 41-0 to Monrovia on Friday.
It has been 12 quarters since the Tigers have scored a point and all Chi can do is encourage his club to keep trying to work the ball down the field. “I just want the kids to keep working,” he said. “I saw some bright spots as we ran the ball well in spots tonight.”
Logan Svihovec-McCarty was the Tigers’ workhorse, carrying the ball 16 times for 61 yards. Teammate Ivan Estrada added another 25 yards, packing the ball four times. The passing game continues to struggle as South Pasadena failed to complete a pass.
Monrovia took a 21-0 lead after the first quarter, added a touchdown in the second to grab a 28-0 advantage at the half. The Wildcats scored twice more in the third period to end the scoring. A CIF-mandating running clock with Monrovia leading by 41 points in the 4th period quickly brought the game to an end.
Three plays into the game and the Wildcats were in the end zone as Nick Hernandez found Aj Carreon on a 10-yard scoring pass. Less than three minutes later Monrovia’s Maury Rams was darting 53 yards for the Wildcats’ second score. With 2:17 left in the first quarter, Devon Mayes put Monrovia out in front 21-0 on a 21 yard run.
The Wildcats made it 28-0 with 3:58 to go before the half when Hernandez hooked up with Damien Crisostomo from 21 yards out.
Going back to work in the third period, Hernandez tossed his third touchdown on the night, finding Frank Hernandez on a 44-yard scoring pass with 7:53 left. Three minutes later, The Wildcats finished off the scoring when Hernandez found Carreon on a 31-0 yard pass to put the Wildcats up by 41.
“The better team won tonight,” said Chi of Monrovia, “but we’re going to keep working hard hoping to pick up a win the next two weeks. We feel like we have a shot at winning those next couple games. I’m proud of the way we keep fighting. Hopefully something good will come out of this season.”
Updates on this game to follow…. Stay tuned.
