Just two games into the season, South Pasadena High football coach Jeff Chi has sized up his offense, saying: “We’ve found our identity.”

The Tigers have discovered early on they are a force on the ground, packing a one-two punch in their offensive backfield behind the play of Trey Freking and David Ortega, who gained 160 and 110 yards, respectively, against Arcadia in South Pasadena’s 21-6 win over Arcadia at home last Friday.

The Apaches took a 6-0 halftime lead before the Tigers’ ground game turned it up a notch as Freking scored once and Ortega twice in the final two quarters to power South Pasadena’s victory.

Behind the Tigers’ frontline, the pair wants to keep the offense rolling this week against Crescenta Valley in the second of three straight home games. As a result of current scorching temperatures throughout the southland, Friday’s usual 7 p.m. start for the kick off be delayed until 7:30 p.m. The Frosh/Soph home game between the Tigers and the Falcons has been moved from Thursday at 3:30 p.m. to Wednesday at 6 p.m. In addition, normal day practice sessions this week have been moved to evening hours to avoid the heat.

The call for the change came from CB Richards, the SPHS athletic director. “CIF did not tell us to move it (change the time), but they do have criteria of not playing in certain conditions,” he wrote in a text. “I was just anticipating those condition are going to be in place. So, I got ahead of it so everybody can adjust early, making life easier and safer. I kind of anticipated the health risk to both teams and moved back the time in agreement with the athletic director from Crescenta Valley.”

Nearly 300 yards rushing out of the long established, run oriented Wing-T, with a sprinkling of the spread offense thrown in to open up the passing game, has been South Pasadena’s most reliable path to victory up to this point as Freking and Ortega have made their mark as a durable dual and solid force against opponents.

“I thought our running game was very successful,” said Chi, looking back on the effort against Arcadia. “That’s kind of our identity right now, the running game, but we still have to get better at passing.”

Zachary Lee, Andrew Nott and Cameron Park have all seen action at quarterback as the Tigers look to shore up that area of their game.  Lee was “a little banged up,” noted Chi, during the Tigers’ 28-0 opening season loss to Schurr, in which he connected on 9 of 14 passes for 95 yards, and gave way to Nott and Park in South Pasadena’s second outing.

For now, Tiger running backs are earning much of the acclaim from the coach as Ortega is relied upon to get the tough yardage, pounding the ball and setting the tone, while Freking is more of finesse type runner, quick on his feet, patient, reading the hole, slicing and dicing through defenses and keeping chains moving.

“Together, they’re pretty productive,” praised Chi.

Long before the team’s first game, Ortega spent long hours during the off-season in the Tigers’ weight room, working his strength. “We should have charged him rent for staying there,” joked the Tigers’ coach. “He’s just a big, weightlifting guy who is in great shape and mentally strong and is able to go both ways, both offense and defense (middle linebacker) and energizes our team on both sides of the ball.”

South Pasadena’s defense will be tested this week to stop Crescenta Valley’s old-fashioned I-formation, with the quarterback, fullback and tailback all lined up in a straight line creating an “I”. The Tigers gave up four second half touchdowns against Schurr before allowing six first half points to Arcadia. Chi stressed some scores in the two games came as a result of turnovers and a short field, meaning offenses didn’t have far distances to go on some scoring drives.

“For the most part our defense has done a fine job,” said Chi, noting that his club only gave up one touchdown in the first three quarters against Schurr and shutdown Arcadia most of the way, giving up only six points against the Apaches, a second quarter touchdown on a fumble recovery.

“For the most part, our defense is keeping teams out of the end zone,” stressed the Tigers’ coach

At halftime against Arcadia, the message from Chi and his coaches was clear – the players need to step it up. “The main point was ‘we have to play as a unit,’” the coach explained. “We basically told the guys we can’t continue to play like this, or we’re going to lose this game and it’s going to be a long season for us. We told them they had to play as a team. This isn’t an individual sport. Think about your teammates, think about the guys you’re trying to protect. You’ve got to be a team player. Just do your job, don’t over analyze. I think they responded in a very positive way. They got the job done a lot better in the second half than they did in the first half.”

From here the road doesn’t get any easier, insisted Chi, starting with Crescenta Valley, the Tigers next formidable opponent, who he says is a “team that runs the ball pretty well and has a quarterback who can sling the ball. We have to be ready to defend both.”

The Falcons are coming off a 17-7 loss to La Cañada last Friday, but the outcome was deceiving, noted Chi, saying Crescenta Valley fumbled the ball twice inside its own 20 at the outset and the Spartans capitalized, jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead.

“Being that it was their first game, I’m sure they had some jitters, but I’m sure they will fix them and show up as a different team this Friday,” Chi said of the Falcons. “So, we’re expecting a very physical game. It’s going to be another battle of the line of scrimmage.”

He now hopes the win over Arcadia, and first of the season, will be the springboard, the catalyst, the launch pad, the mojo to a winning season.

“We just want our guys to really believe in themselves, in each other, the team and recognize what we’re trying to accomplish,” Chi said. “There are a lot good things that came out of the game against Arcadia. It’s just a matter of them doing it with consistency, every play. It’s about having the grit and determination in going out there and fighting through it each play, and making a commitment. We’re trying to teach these young men to really to have those lessons that nothing is going to be given to us. You have to earn those wins. You can’t do it haphazardly. You have to do it as a whole group and go 100 percent the entire time. We continue to let them know the important role they have on the team.”

Already, the Tigers know their running game behind the play of Freking and Ortega is off to a solid start.

“We hope to build on it, and go from there,” said Chi, quick to give a shout out to his offensive line of left tackle Hrag Ourichian, left guard Baron Shroff, Center William Girvigian, right guard Zade Marrujo and right tackle DJ Ebner for opening the holes for the Tigers’ ball carriers. “They do a bulk of the work and receive the least recognition. From the coaching staff, we do appreciate those guys. They are the unsung heroes of our offense.“

Can’t forget the other side of the ball. “Our defensive line has also been doing the job,” he added, paying tribute to the upfront guys – James Dowd, Noah Keller, Andy Yang, Omar Soufi, Jacob Scott and Kevin Figueroa. “They’re getting pounded, beat up, but it’s usually the guys who score that are mentioned and receive the praise. Heads up to our O-line and D-line. They are awesome.”

After facing Crescenta Valley Friday, Golden Valley pays a visit to South Pasadena on September 13 before the Tigers go on the road against Alhambra for their final nonleague game on September 20. Rio Hondo League play opens October 4 with South Pasadena hosting Pasadena Poly ahead of going to San Marino October 11 to take on its rival. The Tigers are back home on October 17 and 25, respectively, to host Monrovia and Temple City, and end the regular season by heading to La Cañada on November 1.

“We had a big win against Arcadia,” said Chi. “Hopefully we can keep this thing going.”

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