Performing at the top of their game in all measurable aspects of the sport, the San Marino High School varsity football team ran away from upstart Temple City in the first minute of last Friday’s contest and really never let the Rams back onto the field, collecting their sixth consecutive win with a 49-19 Homecoming victory.
Senior quarterback Blake Cabot tossed first half touchdown passes to Sean Richardson and Dereck Gerhardt and rushed for a third as the Titans took a commanding lead.
Beau Hobbie ran the opening kickoff back 64 yards to set up San Marino’s initial score, but the Rams bottled up the junior for the remainder of the first half.
But Hobbie rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns in the second half alone to seal the deal as the Titans improved to 2-0 in Rio Hondo League play and 6-1 overall with Friday’s season-defining matchup with Monrovia next on the menu. Cabot added another rushing touchdown and San Marino picked up a safety for the remainder of the team’s points. Cabot finished the game with 131 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and threw for 102 more yards and two scores.
Things were rolling so right for the Titans that Cabot – a lefty – even completed a pass that he threw right handed, finding Hobbie circling out of the backfield for a play-saving gain.
Cabot told The Tribune that until Friday, he had never attempted a right handed pass.
“Well, I was sort of being dragged down by my left arm,” Cabot said with a smile. “I saw Beau and thought I might able to get him the ball if I threw it with my right hand.”
Cabot also reported that after the play, Hobbie said to him “Blake, I think you threw that with your right hand.”
“Yeah, I did,” Cabot replied, and the backfield mates went on with the business of winning.
Senior defensive lineman, placekicker and punter Aloisio Figueira paced San Marino’s defense and was the recipient of the Earl Bruce Award, which is presented annually to the Titan who plays best in the game against Temple City.
“Alo had a great game,” said head Coach Mike Hobbie, with extra emphasis on the word ‘great.’ “They simply could not block him. He was a thorn in their side all night.”
“Everybody did their job,” said Hobbie, echoing a message frequently preached by NFL Coach Bill Belichick. “I thought our kids played very hard and did a really good job on assignments. We started the game with a short field and put the ball in the end zone. Then we got the ball back in good position and and put it into the end zone again. That was pretty good way to start the game.”
Hobbie also noted the performances of senior defensive backs Caleb Shohfi and E.J. Sung.
“They shut down the outside pass,” Hobbie said. “Temple City likes to throw the ball out there and E.J. and Caleb did a really good job of covering them.”
The coach also touted Cabot and Beau Hobbie for their running attack.
“But it was also probably our most consistent performance of the year on offense and by our offensive line,” Hobbie said. “They blocked well and we didn’t have many breakdowns.”
Defensive linemen Ethan Lainez, Thomas Ary, Ryan Sabin and Figueira spent so much time in Temple City’s backfield they could have received mail, forcing Ram quarterback Justin Bowman into harried scrambles and early passes.
Linebackers Kade Wentz, Jack Hornberger and Greyson Garcia picked up the scraps and defensive back Chris Wicke foiled one Temple City drive with his second interception of the season.
Wentz led the defense with 8 tackles, but he had plenty of company at the top of the list as Sabin (8), Figueira, Garcia and Hornberger (7 apiece), Wheeler Smith (6) and Lainez and Ary (3 each) performed their respective roles with aplomb.
Ary, Sabin, Lainez and Figueira were credited with a sack apiece.
But it was the solid play of the offensive line, which includes Lienard Hwang, Darren Li, Carson Giles, Tommy Long, Joey Brunner and Ary, that rode the white horse into Titan Stadium last Friday night.
Wildcats…again.
Hobbie-led Titan football squads are 1-5 against Monrovia – that lone victory coming during San Marino’s iconic 2015 season that eventually ended with a CIF championship and State title game appearance. But nobody has pushed the Wildcats to the brink of extinction more than Hobbie, who in those five losses has caused a gray hair or two to appear under a Monrovia coaching cap.
The Wildcats’ 0-5 pre-league start had many thinking this would finally be the year the Titans would cruise. Better hold your horses, because Monrovia still has plenty of its own.
“It’s still Monrovia,” said Hobbie. “Don’t let that record fool you, all those losses came against very good teams. They still have size up front, speed on the outside, a quarterback who can distribute the football and running backs who can find the end zone. It’s the same old story.”
It will take South Pasadena’s best game and San Marino’s worst for a Tiger victory on Nov. 3, so – once again – this one’s for all the marbles.
