Now there are four, as the number of teams competing for the CIF-Southern Section Division 10 football title has been narrowed significantly with the semi-finals set for Friday night.
It started with 16 schools chasing the big prize, a goal South Pasadena hasn’t achieved since 1975, and now it comes down to a pair of games in the semis to decide who plays for the CIF crown the day after Thanksgiving.
The Tigers now journey to Victorville, set to play Silverado, hoping their bus doesn’t break down like it did a week ago prior to squeaking by Valley View 34-31 in the quarterfinals, delaying the start of the kickoff by a half hour.
In the other semifinal, St. Anthony and Pacifica will go at it. The winners of the two games will meet November 29 at a site yet to be determined in the finals to decide who wins it all.
South Pasadena, making the approximate 75-mile ride to Victorville for the 7 p.m. contest, will bring along plenty of trust, belief and faith as they carry a 10-2 overall record, including a perfect 5-0 Rio Hondo League mark – a first since 1977 – an eight game winning streak, and two playoff victories into the contest, helping to boost their confidence.
The Tigers opened post-season by knocking off visiting Patriot of Jurupa Valley 35-28 in the first round, ahead of slipping by Valley View in the quarterfinals, testing Chi’s squad in the hours long before kickoff as mechanical issues quickly derailed the trip. Twenty minutes after the team’s 1:45 p.m. departure, the bus stopped on the side of the 10 Freeway in Rosemead, about 60 miles short of its final destination of Moreno Valley.
Once back on the road at 4 p.m., the team, fighting Friday night traffic, didn’t make it to Valley View High until just past 6:30 p.m., a half hour prior to the scheduled start. Understandably, officials and opposing coaches agreed to get the game underway at 7:30 p.m.
“I was a little concerned if the kids were going to be okay,” explained the South Pasadena coach after the bus broke down. “We were sitting on the bus for a little while and it got too hot, so we were able to them off for a little bit. We didn’t want to get them dehydrated. I was saying, ‘This is not good.’ It was a challenging situation. But the kids didn’t make a big deal out of it, and did fine.“
Tiger coaches found a safe grassy area under trees away from the freeway, as they took an extended breather before resuming their bus, getting to their game site, and eventually winning a close encounter, a nail-biting win over Valley View.
When it comes to CIF, the difference on where a team plays sometimes comes down to a coin flip, which it did for this one. The Tigers lost it, and for the second straight week will be asked to endure lengthy bus travel. Last week, without the mishap, they were looking at a 90-minute trip from SPHS to Moreno Valley prior to leaving. On Friday, it’ll be closer to 2 ½ hours to face a Silverado team that is 7-5 on the year, including a 2-2 mark against Desert Sky League teams, good enough for third place.
“We can’t focus on something we can’t control,” sized up Tigers’ coach Jeff Chi, regarding the coin flip not going South Pasadena’s way. “We just have to focus on what we have to do.”
The Tigers defense will be looking to stop Hawks’ senior quarterback Jace Weiss, who has thrown for 27 touchdowns on the season and rushed for 17 more, picking up nearly 500 yards on the ground. In 12 games, he’s passed for 2,392 yards, completing 156 of his 297 throws.
Dallas Kincherlow is the team leader in carrying the ball, picking up 804 yards, packing the ball 173 times for a 4.6-point average. Silverado’s top pass catcher is Jayden Pauling, who has caught 50 for 627 yards, for a 12.5-yard average, and nine TDs. Teammate Jarmarri Tharpe has another 37 for 641 yards and six scores through the air.
On the other side, South Pasadena will counter with plenty of firepower of its own, powered by running back Trey Freking, a junior, the team’s leading rusher with 1,427 yards on 233 carries through 12 contests for a 6.1-yard average and 15 touchdowns.
Chi is hopeful sidekick David Ortega will join Freking in the backfield after an injury has sidelined him in recent outings. A power runner, picking up the tough yardage, the senior has picked up 721 yards on 99 carries in 10 games, averaging 7.3 yards per carry, and scored nine touchdowns on the season.
While Ortega has been recovering, sophomore Rick Matsuda, with 26 carries for 223 yards and a TD, senior David Eisenberg, another 218 yards on 19 carries for a 11.5 yard average and four scores, along with senior Jordan Rodgers, 63 yards on four carries for a 15.8 yard average and two touchdowns, have all been called on to help get the job done.
On the receiving end for the Tigers, senior James Dowd and Freking are the leaders with 12 receptions each, followed by Rodgers and sophomore Toshio Matsuoka with 10 apiece.
Making the key throws and finding his way under center is Andrew Nott, just a sophomore, who has completed 55 of his 85 passes for 968 yards, averaging 17.6 yards a throw, and tossed nine touchdowns in 11 games he has played.
South Pasadena also has plenty of arsenal in its kicking game as sophomore Lorcan Swift and junior Nicholas Dragonas have been steady all season long, connecting on extra points with regularity and booting field goals. Among a pair of three-pointers against Valley View last week, Dragonas kicked a 41-yarder.
So, now the Tigers are ready to hit the road again, headed to San Bernardino County on the edge of the Mojave Desert, to Victorville looking for their third playoff victory in a row, setting up a CIF match-up for the finalists next week.
“They are a pretty good team,” praised the Tigers’ coach when asked about Silverado’s strength. “They are a lot like us. I know they lost a couple of games they could have won. It’s a mixture of them having some good games, some bad games and everything in between. They have a lot of threats, so we just have to be ready for them. It’ll be another tough one. We’re looking forward to it.”
And, with fingers crossed, South Pasadena won’t be late. “This time, hopefully, the bus won’t break down,” Chi said with a laugh.
