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South Pasadena High quarterback Jackson Freking threw the ball only 10 times on the night, but made the most of those throws, connecting on seven for 279 yards and four touchdowns as the Tigers went on to hand host La Canada a 41-35 loss in a key Rio Hondo League contest.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 7-1 on the season, their lone defeat coming against Monrovia, atop the league standings at 3-0, 6-2 overall with two games to go. The Wildcats finish up against San Marino (4-4, 2-1) and Temple City (2-6, 0-3).
South Pasadena, 2-1 in league play, takes on Pasadena Poly (1-6, 1-2) with a first time trip to the Los Angeles Coliseum next Thursday and winds up the regular season facing rival San Marino on Friday, October 28, before turning its attention to the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. The top three finishing teams in league qualify for the post-season and the Tigers look to be one of them, barring a major stumble down the stretch.
They can lock up second place by winning their next against Pasadena Poly and rival San Marino, the latter also on the road. The road to getting there might be easier if Monrovia knocks of the Titans when the two teams meet Friday.
The Tigers were forced to hold off a last minute La Cañada 4th quarter rally in the back-in-forth contest Friday as the Spartans drove to South Pasadena’s 20 before Aiden Kinney came up with an interception in the end zone to seal it for the visitors.
Freking hit Richard Conti on all four of his TD passes, going 59, 38, 61 and 66 yards. The Tigers top receiver caught six passes for 275 yards. Jason Hong carried the ball 12 times for 82 yards and scored the other two touchdowns for South Pasadena.
“If feels good to come away with the win,” said Chi. “It was kind of a stressful week making sure everything was covered to make sure we were prepared. It was one of those games where anything could happen so we really stayed on top of it. It was a very close game and could have gone either way.”
