Last Friday night at 9:45 p.m., a young man wearing a royal blue football jersey with the words San Marino emblazoned across the chest atop an oversized number 19 trotted onto the field at Titan Stadium.
He had accepted the task of kicking a football through an odd-shaped apparatus that most would recognize as a goal post at the east end of the facility in an effort to win a game over the town’s foe in a rivalry that stretches back to the Eisenhower administration.
Anyone seeking the identity of the young man would be hard-pressed as neither his name nor number appeared on the roster provided in the official game program sold at the venue.
They know it now, especially those from South Pasadena who watched the annual contest. And just in case they didn’t, players, fans and cheerleaders provided a reminder that rang into the chilly, damp night.
“Harry!” “Harry!” “Harry!”
He has a last name, too, and for the record it’s Wendling. But he will forever be known as the boy who kicked a field goal as time expired to tame the Tigers in the 66th renewal of the battle for the Crowley Cup.