Pasadena Poly football wins game over La Cañada on historic night at the Coliseum

LOS ANGELES >> Pasadena Poly football coach Chris Schmoke is as humble as they come.

But the mild-mannered Michigan native couldn’t help but let out his emotions Thursday after watching his football team overpower La Cañada 34-24 on a historic night when high school football was played at the Coliseum for the first time since 2016.

“This was a big win considering that we had a rash of injuries and kids get sick,” Schmoke said. “We got good kids and they stepped up when they needed to. I’m really proud of this group of kids.”

The win gave the Panthers (5-3, 3-1) the Rio Hondo League’s second automatic bid into the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Two years ago, the Panthers had an 8-2 record but didn’t make the playoffs as an at-large team from the disbanded Prep League.

Pasadena Poly won the game with a bruising running attack led by seniors Jason Mayo and Alex Xie. The duo combined for 289 of the team’s 320 rushing yards.

Mayo clinched the win for Poly with a 2-yard touchdown run, his second TD of the game, with 7:42 left in the contest.

“Our game plan was to mix in the run and the pass,” said Mayo, who rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries. “We got some gaps that were open so that we could run the ball.”

Pasadena Poly’s offensive offensive excellence showed on the stat sheet as it finished with more total yards (361-247) and more first downs (27-10).

Poly quarterback Colin Mathews completed 5 of 10 passes for 41 yards and two touchdowns.

Zie gave the Panthers the lead, 27-24, early in the third quarter with a 5-yard scamper into the end zone with 4:32 remaining in the period.

“(Schmoke) likes it when we get the run game going,” said Zie, was the leading rusher for Poly with 135 yards on 18 carries. “Our offensive line was holding it down. They’re all juniors, and they demolished it the whole game.”

La Cañada’s offense was sharp in the first half as it scored three touchdowns that propelled it to a 24-21 halftime lead. However, the Spartans (5-4, 1-3) failed to muster a serious offensive attack in the second half.

Quarterback Macky Plocher completed only 4 of 12 passes for 105 yards a touchdown. Brandon Shepherd was the leading rusher for La Canada, amassing 80 yards on 14 carries. Corey Cheung had nine carries for 52 yards and a touchdown.

His touchdown came on a fourth-down play when scampered 23 yards with 7:25 left in the second quarter for a 24-7 Spartans lead. Pasadena Poly responded on its next drive that culminated with Mayo punching it into the end zone on a 2-yard run with 4:22 left in the first half that trimmed the Spartans’ lead to 24-14.

“These guys are warriors,” Schmoke said. “We’ve got guys playing both ways, everyone knows what we are doing, and they finished the job.”