In the past seven years, San Marino High School’s varsity football team has huffed…and puffed…but only once before last Friday night have the Titans been able to blow Monrovia’s house down.
Make that twice.
With an outright Rio Hondo League championship riding on the outcome, San Marino defeated the host Wildcats by a final score of 34-21 to close Rio Hondo League play with a 4-0 record while claiming only its second title since 1995. The most recent was 2015, when the Titans also won a CIF crown before advancing to the state championship game in Sacramento.
“We didn’t back down,” said San Marino head Coach Mike Hobbie, who got an impromptu on-field Gatorade bath shortly after the game, courtesy of his zealous, white-clad charges. “We took it to them. Our kids really wanted this game.”
And they got it.
Senior tailback Beau Hobbie scored on San Marino’s second and third possessions of the contest with runs of one and 68 yards to give the Titans a 14-7 lead over the Wildcats, who also entered the final week of Rio Hondo league play with a 3-0 record.
The Titans took a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter and were poised to get the ball back as the Wildcats went into punt formation with ten minutes left in the game. But Monrovia not only ran a fake punt, they added the wrinkle of a reverse and, 72 yards later, the game was tied at 21-21.
With momentum seemingly slipping into a kelly green jersey, San Marino steeled itself for its ensuing possession. On third and long from its own 42-yard line, senior quarterback Kade Wentz was forced from the pocket and broke containment for a 34-yard run. A facemask penalty against the Wildcats added another 15 yards to the run and San Marino was again in scoring position. Two play later, Wentz did the honors himself with a two-yard scoring run.
But the ‘Cats blocked the extra point attempt and the Titans lead was only six at 27-21 with a little over two minutes remaining in the contest.
But on Monrovia’s next play from scrimmage, quarterback Nick Hernandez couldn’t handle a low snap from center. San Marino senior Jackson Wendling was more than happy to fall on the loose ball deep in Wildcat territory. Beau Hobbie traversed the final 13 yards and the successful extra point gave the Titans a 34-21 lead with 1:13 left.
There was no further scoring, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more action. A donnybrook resulted on the ensuing kickoff and players had to be restrained by coaches and officials.
Titan defensive back Neven Yarahmadi intercepted a desperation pass and the Wentz was able to take a knee from the victory formation to end the game.
“It’s hard to single anybody out,” Mike Hobbie said after the game. “Everybody did a good job. This was clearly one of the better games we have played all season. It was one of our most physical games of the year and our kids really stepped up.”
Hobbie lauded his grandson, Beau, who finished the game with 183 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Wentz, playing just his second game after missing a month with a shoulder injury, carried 21 times for 151 yards and two scores. The senior also kept the Wildcat defense honest by completing six of 11 passes for 76 yards, with Hobbie, Wheeler Smith and Jake Leftwich each grabbing two apiece.
Hobbie credited his offensive line with a standout performance.
But it might have been the Titan defense that saved San Marino’s bacon. Junior defensive tackle Kourosh Hassibi occupied several Monrovia blockers and hurried Hernandez on multiple pass attempts.
“Kourosh had a really good game,” Hobbie said.
“Charlie [Daves], Wicke [Chris], Ethan [Lainez], Beau [Perez], Neven [Yarahmadi]. It’s like everyone had a good game.”
Wendling’s fumble recovery was huge, but certainly no more important than his ten tackles.
The Titans and Wildcats have tussled for the Rio Hondo League title in each of Hobbie’s eight seasons at the helm. Friday’s win improved his record to 2-6 against Monrovia. He is 29-1 against the other four league opponents, combined.
Which explains why Hobbie called last Friday’s victory “one of the biggest in my career.”
A Different Breed of Cat
Enter the Segerstrom Panthers, who visit Titan Stadium this Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. for a CIF Division 9 first rounder. Segerstrom lost a 21-14 double overtime decision to Garden Grove last Thursday night that, like the San Marino-Monrovia matchup, was a winner-take-all contest for the Big 4 Conference title.
There’s more to the similarity.
“They are much like Monrovia,” Hobbie said. “They are bigger than us and faster than us. This is going to be a fight.”
They are also bigger in another form of comparison: with over 2,500 students, Segerstrom is more than twice the size of SMHS, despite the CIF’s claim they were going to level the playing field. If the Titans can tame the Panthers, they will get the winner of the North Torrance – Orange contest. Again, both of those schools are roughly twice the size of San Marino.
Quarterback Angel Vega can run and pass. When he hands off, the Panthers have seven, count’ em, seven running backs who have rushed for at least 100 yards on the season. Two, Alex Sanchez and Enrique Lopez, Jr., have eclipsed the 500-yard mark.
Segerstrom finished 8-2 overall and 2-1 in league play. The two teams have one common opponent: The Panthers topped Bell Gardens 35-14 in the season opener, San Marino had a big lead over the Lancers on September 14 before several untimely injuries in the second half allowed Bell Gardens to pull within 41-29 at the final gun.
“They have a lot of weapons,” Hobbie said of the Panthers, who have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 392-119. “This will be a very tough game for us.”
