vs
| 10/17/24 - Away | 27-36 L |
| 10/06/23 - Home | 28-56 L |
| 09/29/22 - Away | 35-21 W |
| 10/28/21 - Home | 56-7 W |
| 10/18/19 - Home | 49-7 W |
| + 4 more games |
Monrovia is 7-2 against South Pasadena since October of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Wildcats will take on the Tigers at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Monrovia's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points every time they've taken the field this season.
Last Friday, Monrovia made easy work of Baldwin Park and carried off a 35-14 win. The 35-point effort marked the Wildcats' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Monrovia to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jesse Saucedo, who threw for 231 yards and two TDs on only 17 passes. DASHAWN SIEBER helped Saucedo out on the ground, rushing for 23 yards and a pair of scores, while also picking up 53 receiving yards.
Monrovia didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Zephyr Enriquez, Josh Santos, and PADRAIC BRUSSEAU picked up one apiece. Monrovia got some further help from Dominic Lino: he picked up a sack and made seven total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Special teams also played a big role in the game for Monrovia, adding 11 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of BYRON BELL, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, South Pasadena played a tough matchup on Thursday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They lost 35-14 to West Covina. The Tigers were down 35-7 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Monrovia will have to contain Trey Freking as he made an impact in South Pasadena's last game. He rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Freking is becoming a predictor of South Pasadena's success: when he posts at least 80 rushing yards the team is 2-1 (and 0-3 when he doesn't). The Tigers also got help from Tatem Mendoza, who showed off his sure hands for 92 receiving yards.
Monrovia's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-0. As for South Pasadena, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 2-4 record this season.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. Monrovia has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 248.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like South Pasadena struggles in that department as they've been averaging 173.3 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Monrovia came up short against South Pasadena when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 36-27. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Freking, who rushed for 273 yards and three TDs while picking up 8.3 yards per carry. Now that the Wildcats know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
