After a 3-2 start in non-league play, South Pasadena High hit the pause button as the Tigers are coming off a bye before launching into five straight weeks of Rio Hondo League play beginning Friday night when Pasadena Poly pays visit.
The Tigers most recent outing, a 35-12 road victory over Alhambra on September 20, was a tune-up for what’s in store as South Pasadena sets its sights on defending a league title it shared last season with Monrovia and San Marino.
Since the win, Chi has used the extra time to rest his troops, “let some guys heal,” as he described it, yet at the same looking to maintain the team’s competitive edge established through the first five weeks of the season.
“Having the bye week helps us reset everything as we get ready for league,” explained Chi. “We’re going to continue to go after it, battle opponents, but the main thing is to be as healthy as we can with fresh legs as we get ready for Poly. It can be a delicate balance.”
The Tigers will be facing a 3-2 team in the Panthers, who come into the 7 p.m. contest following a 44-13 setback to Calvary Chapel last week.
“They have a very young squad and don’t have a lot of experience, so I think that is to our advantage,” said Chi. “But at the same time, we can’t take anyone lightly. They’ve had some good production on offense and are pretty aggressive on defense. It’s going to be another tough one for us.”
The Panthers opened non-league with a narrow 18-15 win over Hoover, lost of Rio Hondo Prep convincingly 65-19, shutout Bosco Tech 54-0, had a one-sided victory over Beverly Hills ahead of beating Calvary Chapel soundly.
“We’ll need to be physical and aggressive on our end,” stressed Chi. “Once you get into league, every game is extremely important.”
Chi, who expects his team to be near full strength, certainly would have liked to won more games in preseason play but isn’t surprised, especially with the amount of strong competition South Pasadena faced. The Tigers opened up against Schurr, now 4-1, losing 28-0, then handled 1-4 Arcadia 21-6, got past 2-3 Crescenta Valley 29-23, were beaten by 5-1 Golden Valley 21-7 before coasting to a 23-point win to neighboring Alhambra.
“Now we’re taking one game at a time and will try to go for that league title again, feeling like we have that opportunity,” said the coach.
Offensively, up to this point, the Tigers have leaned on their solid running attack behind David Ortega and Trey Freking to put points on the board, both living up to their top billing. In the five games, Ortega, a 5-11, 185 pound senior bruising back, has carried the ball 56 times for 430 yards, averaging 7.7 yards to go along with his three touchdowns, while Freking, a 5-10, 170-pound junior, has another 363 yards, packing the ball 73 times for a 5-yard average and a handful of TDs.
“Ortega is probably our strongest kid pound for pound on the team and is just a monster on offense,” noted the coach. “He’s a very physical kid, the one who continues to pick up big yardage for us.”
Chi counts on Freking, a finesse type runner, to slip inside through a hole or burst outside for long gains. “With his speed he gets the most out of his runs,” Chi noted. “Instinctively, if the hole is clogged he’ll l cut back and find openings with his great vision.”
Getting little rest, Ortega is also the Tigers’ starting middle linebacker and Freking when needed sees playing time in the defensive secondary or at one of the linebacker spots.
“Trey can do a lot of different things for us, but for now we’re trying to let him just focus on offense,” said the coach. “If we need him over on defense, we’ll move him there. We ask a lot of those two guys.”
While the rushing attack is solid, Chi stressed the importance of getting more out of his passing game. “We’ve got to be able to throw the ball better,” he said. “We need to get rid of the ball quick in order to put less pressure on the offensive line. So, we’ve been working on that during the bye week in order to be more consistent with our running and passing attack.”
Up to this point, Andrew Nott, just a sophomore, has seen most of the action at quarterback, completing 10 of 22 of his passes for 162 yards and throwing two touchdowns in four games. Zachary Lee has played in three, connecting on 15 of 26 for 115 yards.
South Pasadena’s big target – literally – has been senior tight end James Dowd, standing tall at 6-6 to go along with his 225 pounds. To date, he’s hauled in 12 passes for 164 yards, averaging 13.7 yards per catch.
For the most part, Chi likes what he sees from his defense as the Tigers have held most teams in check. The highest offensive point total up to this point has been 28 by Schurr in the season opener, Chi getting solid play out of his defensive ends the versatile Dowd, going both ways, and Grayson Ebner, and tackles Omar Soufi and Noah Keller. Keeping fresh legs, South Pasadena likes to rotate defensive linemen Andy Yang, Kevin Figueroa, Jacob Scott and Robin Kim into the game.
“We’re playing a number of younger guys and hoping now that the preseason games are over we’ll be even more effective, force everything inside, and stop the other team’s interior running game,” Chi said. “The defense has really been playing well.”
After taking on Pasadena Poly, the Tigers travel to San Marino (3-2) on October 11, are home against Monrovia (4-1) on October 17 for a rare Thursday game, and Temple City (5-0) on October 25, before capping off the regular season by traveling to La Cañada, also undefeated at 5-0.
With the non-league slate complete, the Tigers now roll into the Rio Hondo League season with a winning record, plenty of rest between games and an optimistic outlook.
“We’ll be telling the players they control their own destiny by how well they practice, and how well they perform on every play,” said Chi. “We’ll try to focus on one play at a time and go from there. We’re ready and up for the challenge.”
