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Seems like it was just yesterday that South Pasadena High was celebrating its one-sided 53-13 win over Mountain view, when suddenly the smiles were replaced with game faces as the next game suddenly appeared on the horizon.
After the big win last Friday night, the Tigers headed home from El Monte and were back at it early Saturday morning at SPHS preparing for their next encounter with some light training in anticipation to afternoon practices this week as they gear up to host Viewpoint from Calabasas Friday night.
“Once the season starts the weeks go flying by way too fast,” said Tigers’ coach Jeff Chi. “You always feel like you haven’t prepared enough, always feeling like there’s more to do. Before you know it, it’s game time. And as soon as it’s over, you have to start thinking about the next one.”
It sounds simplistic, but Chi has told his team this week, “just execute on offense and defense,” he said. “They (Viewpoint) have been watching us on tape and know what we’re capable of doing. I’ve been telling the guys, ‘Now you just have to go out there and give it a little extra effort.’”
The Tigers ran the ball well last week against Mountain View and Chi would like to establish the ground game early in Friday night’s contest. “We need our linemen to really come out and open up the holes and have our running backs do their job,” he said. “That’s why we’re out here as coaches. We look forward to the competition in getting the kids prepared and see how they do on Friday nights. We’ve got them trained to work hard everyday, and at game time they strap on (their helmets) and get after it. They realize hard work does pay off.”
It paid off big in the 40-point victory over the Vikings last Friday as the Tigers put it away early, building a 20-7 lead after the first quarter, 34-7 at the half and 53-13 after three periods. A running clock fourth quarter, mandated by CIF as a result of the lopsided score, sent the crowd home early.
“The thing I was proud of is our receivers caught the ball and our running backs ran hard,” Chi explained. “Our linemen gave the quarterback time to throw the ball. The running game was all positive. The job the players were supposed to do, they got it done. We wanted our guys to do their job. I know we had a few passes dropped, but it’s fewer than we’ve had in the past. Everything we wanted them to do, they did it, and more.”
Viewpoint comes into Friday’s 7 p.m. contest looking for its first win after falling 42-8 against Fillmore last week.
Impressive on film for the visiting 0-1 Patriots, noted the coach, have been quarterback Niko Candido, and top receivers Lachlan Beattie, and brothers Peter and Luke Boehm.
“They also have a big offensive line, so I’m sure they’re going to try to open some holes to get their running game going,” continued Chi.
However, noted the South Pasadena High coach, Viewpoint puts the ball in the air about 70 percent of the time out of the spread offense.
“We know it’s going to be a good test for us,” Chi said. “From what we see on the film, they have some pretty good players.”
