Flintridge Prep football winds up season with lopsided victory
LYNWOOD — Immediately after the Flintridge Prep football team ended its season on a winning note, the players and members of the coaching staff got together near midfield for an exchange of handshakes and hugs.
Flintridge Prep had just put the finishing touches on a 62-13 Prep League victory against Firebaugh at Lynwood High on Friday and ended a six-game losing streak.
The greetings meant something to Flintridge Prep Coach Glen Beattie, who wanted to end the season on the right note.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Beattie, who saw the Rebels finish 3-7 and 1-2 in league. “We congratulated them and these were kids who grew up the last few months.
“It’s also a chance to say good bye to the seniors who you’ve grown close to the last few years. We wanted to come out and play hard and we got some excellent efforts.”
Flintridge Prep never trailed and broke away from Firebaugh (0-10, 0-3) with eight touchdowns in a row.
Kole Humane had two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter and quarterback Andrew Tsangeos threw two touchdowns and rushed for another. Mike Pearson contributed for the Rebels, as he had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and added another on the ground at running back.
“It’s kind of like a punctuation mark on the season,” Beattie said. “We were able to put everything together.”
Hamane gave the Rebels a 7-0 lead on a one-yard run with 10:34 left in the first quarter. After the Falcons closed to within 7-6 on an eight-yard run by Alberto Nava (110 yards rushing in 23 carries) with 3:32 remaining in the first quarter, Hamane responded with a 17-yard score to extend the lead to 14-6 less than a minute later.
The Rebels scored five touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 49-6 halftime advantage. Payton Faulkner caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Tsangeos (five of six for 83 yards) with 11:24 left to make it 21-6. Tsangeos then scored on a 46-yard run to pad the lead to 28-6 with 8:06 left in the second quarter. A 24-yard touchdown run by Aldridge Khin made it 35-6 with 7:20 to play in the half.
Pearson then broke free after he stripped the ball from the quarterback during a handoff and went untouched 52 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-6 with 5:03 to go.
“I got to the quarterback and then the ball landed in my hands,” Pearson said. “I had come through the middle and then nobody touched me.”
Danny Chiarodit closed out the first-half scoring when he intercepted a pass and returned it 62 yards to make it 49-6.
Nathan Gi caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Tsangeos with 5:10 left in the third quarter to give the Rebels a 56-6 lead. Pearson closed out the scoring for the Rebels with 23.9 seconds left in the third quarter.
“It was a learning experience for us,” said Tsangeos, a reigning All-Area pick. “We had huge expectations coming into the season and it took us some time to put the pieces together. We were able to end on a winning note.”