by Mitch Lehman
With an oil well churning away just behind the grandstand and office towers hovering in the distance, last Saturday morning’s frosh-soph football game between San Marino and host Beverly Hills had the feel of an east coast prep school polo match.
The Normans could have used some horses to keep up with the Titans’ array of talented ball handlers as San Marino prevailed by a final score of 54-32.
Trailing 8-0, the Titans wasted little time when it was their turn to snap the football as freshman quarterback Blake Cabot rambled twenty-two yards into Beverly Hills territory. On the next play, tailback E.J. Sung made several nice moves as he dissected the field on his way to a 37-yard touchdown run.
Cabot connected with Stephen Campbell on a fake extra point try to tie the game at 8-apiece midway through the first quarter.
Strong defensive plays by John Hutchison and Brandt Lukas brought the ball right back to San Marino and the offense continued to fire. A 32-yard run by Sung, a seven-yard scamper by Cabot and another half-dozen from Sung gave the Titans first and goal at the Norman nine. From there, Cabot connected with tight end Matthew Gulick and Aloisio Figueira added the extra point for a 15-8 Titan advantage.
But the Normans put together a solid drive and scored with forty-four second left in the second quarter, tacking on another two-pointer for a 16-15 lead.
Little of the back-and-forth action that typified the first half provided a precursor to the offensive explosion that would follow, and Sung sounded the opening salvo when he dashed eighty two yards to paydirt on the third quarter kickoff to make it 22-16 after Figueira’s extra point.
San Marino’s defense continued to stifle the hosts and the Titans went to work again. Hutchison made a highlight-reel catch of a third down pass from Cabot to pick up sixteen yards and a first down. On the next play, Cabot called his own number for a 49-yard touchdown run and 28-16 advantage with 5:54 left in the third quarter.
Again the defense rose to the occasion and San Marino was quick to take advantage. Cabot connected with Harrison Dunkel for a 31-yard gain to the enemy seventeen yard line. Three plays later, the duo hooked up again for a 14-yard scoring play and 34-16 lead.
The Normans fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Figueira was benefactor of the most fortuitous bounce of the season as the ball ricocheted directly into his hands. Fifty-three yards and about seven seconds later, the Titans were in control, 40-16.
The Normans scored to make it 40-24, but again San Marino showed quick strike ability. On the first play of the next series, Sung rambled 58 yards into the end zone and Figueira added the conversion for a 47-24 lead.
Tailback Jeffrey Lam displayed strong running ability in the fourth quarter and capped the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run late in the contest.
Ryan Sabin played well on both sides of the ball as did linemen Thomas Ary, Alex Gelt and Samil Siddigi.
San Marino returns to action after the bye week. The frosh visit Monrovia on Thursday, October 9 at 3:30 p.m. while the junior varsity squad hosts the Wildcats concurrently.
