The high school football season – or a reasonable facsimile thereof – got off to an enthusiastic start on Saturday morning in San Marino with the playing of the Blue & White Game, the Titans’ annual intersquad scrimmage that was contested in front of a sizeable audience in Titan Stadium.
The varsity and junior varsity quads joined together then split into two teams to face off on an unseasonably cool summer morning.
Head Coach Ray Torres liked what he saw, especially when the injury report was circulated on Sunday morning.
“I thought it went well,” said Torres, who is entering his second season as head coach. “I thought the kids played very hard and put a lot of effort into the day. The coaching staff was very pleased with how it went and thankfully nobody got hurt, at least there was nothing serious and is going to hold anyone out of action.”
Torres singled out sophomores Julian Solis, Alex Parwar and Coleman Morning for exceptional efforts while quarterback Riley Short ripped off a long run and had control of the offense. In his first year playing football, wide receiver Jaden Clarke was a “big eye-opener,” according to Torres.
Possibly even more positive was the performance of San Marino’s offensive and defensive lines, who were bolstered by Mitch Mooney and Julian Navarette.
Freshman Jacob Kreinbring also excelled at wider receiver and special teams.
“Jacob did some nice things out there,” Torres said. “And Riley Short has improved a lot. He is making good decisions and taking a leadership role on this team.”
Senior running back Ryan Singhal tore off a couple solid runs and seems to be improving from a serious knee injury he suffered last year, followed by a resulting surgery.
The Titans scrimmaged Salesian High of Los Angeles yesterday and San Marino opens the 2022 season on Friday, Aug. 19, against Norwalk High School in Titan Stadium at 7 p.m.
