Late lead not enough

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — After nearly two complete years as the leader of the Nitros, Glendale High football Coach Alan Eberhart is still trying to teach his team how to win.

On one too many occasions, the Nitros have held a second-half lead only to lose it because of miscues.

It happened once again Friday against Pasadena.

Glendale led by a point late in the third quarter, but committed untimely penalties, its offense stalled and its defense couldn’t stop the Bulldogs’ running game in a 26-13 Pacific League setback at Moyse Field.

“We have to know how to win,” Eberhart said “It’s so frustrating.”

Eberhart, whose team has lost 14 straight, was elated at the start of the second half.

Glendale (0-6, 0-3 in league) started the half with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took five minutes. The drive ended when quarterback Alex Yoon rushed in for a one-yard touchdown run, which was his second of the night, with the other being an eight-yard run in the first quarter. Yoon rushed 17 times for 54 yards and teammate Chan Kim had 14 carries for 76 yards.

But once Yoon scored to give the Nitros a 13-12 lead, “it all stopped,” according to Eberhart.

“And that’s my fault,” he said. “I haven’t taught them how to win.”

Pasadena (2-4, 1-3) shut down the Nitros the remainder of the game and scored two touchdowns of its own, and running back Cleo Bates did most of the damage.

Bates scored from four yards out to give Pasadena an 18-13 lead with 2:49 left in the third. After a Glendale drive ended in a punt, Bates broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and sprinted through the secondary for a 51-yard touchdown run. Bates had 13 carries for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

“We do good things, then we do bad things,” Eberhart said. “That’s a sign of a team that hasn’t figured it out yet. We didn’t have the answers. To fix the problems, we have to win games.”