“It was just great to be back out there and see the boys playing so hard,” said San Marino head coach Justin Mesa.
And they almost matched the appearance by notching a win. The Titans had to punt on their first possession and the Indians blocked it, though San Marino’s defense stiffened and held Burroughs to a 30-yard field goal by freshman kicker Brody Kemp.
Nathan Fajardo returned the ensuing kickoff to the 37-yard line and the Titans immediately capitalized on the excellent field position. Junior quarterback Niko Mavridis connected with tight end Ryan Singhal for a 63-yard scoring play, with Fajardo adding the extra point for a 7-3 advantage with 6:39 left in the opening quarter.
The Titans got a big break on the next series of downs when a 61-yard run by Indians’ tailback Luke Rogers was whistled dead near the line of scrimmage. Later in the drive, Burroughs moved into scoring position on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Jonathan English to Vincent Harris. But Ryan Singhal picked off English near the goal line and returned the ball 64 yards to change the momentum. Three plays later, Mavridis tossed a five-yard scoring pass to senior Matthew Karapetyan, who stretched out in the end zone and was able to slide his hands under the ball for the score. Fajardo was again true on the conversion and San Marino led 14-3 with 10:30 remaining in the second quarter.
From that point on, however, the Titans were administered a steady dose of Rogers, who along with his veteran offensive line, wore out the hosts’ defense. Rogers ended the evening with 211 rushing yards on 32 carries and a touchdown. Marcus Manahan, just a sophomore, carried eight times for 55 yards and two touchdowns and English added a two-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter.
Nick Singhal ended the night with 12 carries for 25 rushing yards, while Karapetyan toted the ball three times for 14 yards. Mavridis was seven-for-13 passing for 126 yards and the two scores. Ryan Singhal finished the night with three catches for 103 yards, while Karapetyan had two receptions for eight yards and Michael Prappas caught two balls for 15 yards.
The Singhal brothers figured similarly on defense, with Nick (14) leading the team in tackles and Ryan adding five. Senior Billy Daves and Paul Argueta each recorded six tackles with significant contributions from Fajardo (five), Valentin Arambula (four), Glover Talt (four), Karapetyan (four) as well as Andrew Hornberger and Liam Fakhourian, who had three apiece.
Mesa said the team’s performance has grown on him since Friday night.
“It wasn’t a good feeling coming off the field, but after watching the film I feel a lot better,” said the second-year coach. “We came out pretty fast and had a nice lead, but you have to play four quarters. As the night went on, we wore down and made some mistakes. When guys had to step out of the game, we were putting in some guys who hadn’t received a lot of reps.
“But some of the things we had stressed we did very well. We took care of the ball and at the top of the list are the pillars of work ethic and effort and we did both of those things. We put forth a ton of effort. We took on a challenge and didn’t back down; we just ran out of manpower. We suffered from our lack of offensive production from the middle of the second quarter until the end of the game.”
Mesa singled out the Singhal brothers for their outstanding efforts, starting with Ryan, a sophomore.
“He had the long touchdown run and interception while starting at two positions he had never played before,” said Mesa. “And Nick is a warrior. We didn’t have a lot of offensive plays and I wish we could have run the ball a lot more. Nick was also our leading tackler and had to play quarterback after Niko went out of the game. He really fought hard.”
Mesa also praised Arambula for a top effort.
“We had identified Valentin as one of the guys who was an area of concern, but he really showed up. He played really well and it hurt us when he was out of the game.”
The coach also touted Fajardo, who he said “showed up big.”
WEEK OFF
Not long after Friday’s game, Mesa chose to cancel their upcoming contest at defending Rio Hondo League champion Monrovia due to the Titans being shorthanded because of injuries.
“We came into the season with 24 eligible varsity players and we suffered four significant injuries on Friday,” said Mesa. “In a way it hurts the ego and the pride, but our first priority is to assure the safety of our players and we can’t do that right now.”
San Marino will instead shift their focus on the squad’s April 2 Crowley Cup showdown with South Pasadena.
“Hopefully we can do the right thing and take care of our guys,” said Mesa. “I can assure you we will do our best to play that game and I know the guys want to play that game.”
