Smudge Pot 2022

Saturday, September 10, 2022 at Citrus College

The Bonita Bearcats (2-2) defeated the San Dimas Saints (2-2) 21 to 13 in a closely fought game during the 50th Smudge Pot on Saturday night at Citrus College. Entering the game each team had won 24 games (with one tie) during this long standing inter-district rivalry. By the end of the game, each team had completed 43 plays on offense with only 24 seconds separating their time of possession. The Bearcat’s controlled the ball for 23:48 while the Saints’ offense was on the field for 24:12. Both quarterback’s completed 5 passes with Bonita’s Daniel Andrade passing for 64 yards on 9 passes while his counterpart for the Saints, Jacob Gonzalez, made 60 yards on 10 attempts but suffered three interceptions. It took fifty games but the Bearcats have overtaken the Saints in the series for the first time (25-24-1).

Bonita scored on an early four yard touchdown run by Connor Spina who carried the ball 11 times for 69 yards. He would score all three of Bonita’s touchdowns.

San Dimas came back in the second quarter taking advantage of four Bonita fumbles including returning one for a touchdown. Brian Freeland got the Saints on the score board with a two-yard TD run while Kingston Curtis recovered the fumble and ran it for 75 yards to give the Saint’s the lead at the half. A taunting penalty on the touchdown tacked another 15 yards on the extra point which caused a miss kick resulting in a 7 to 13 San Dimas lead.

“Generally, you have four (turnovers), you don’t win,” Bonita coach Steve Bogan said. “They just played their asses off, is the most important thing. We always want to play hard, play smart and play together. We played hard, we played together, we just have to play a little smarter. We’re a much younger team than people think,” Bogan said. “We lost 27 seniors. We’ve had some growing pains. They never quit. They keep showing up.” Bogan has now won four straight Smudge Pot games against his counterpart Mark Holman.

In the second half the Bearcats shut out the Saints and their offense was able to score two touchdowns to ensure the victory.  On the opening drive, Bearcat sophomore, Cole Parra intercepted a Jacob Gonzales pass and ran it ten yards to Bonita’s 47 yard line. Spina would break free on a 26-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and with the extra kick the Bearcats would take the lead 14 to 13. Late in the fourth quarter, the Bearcat’s Spina would push through a one yard touchdown run at the Saint’s goal line to put the game away.

Noah Mikhail, Bearcat running back, had a strong game rushing for 135 yards on 14 carries. The Bearcats out rushed the Saints’ 195 to 132 yards.  Bearcat defensive back, Joe Parra, would have two interceptions in the game. The Saints’ Brian Freeland carried the ball 16 times for 70 yards and a touchdown. The other Saints’ backs Caleb Morquecho had 33 yards on six carries and Brian Jackson gained 27 yards on four carries. The Bearcats had a 251-172 advantage in total offense over the Saints.

A disappointed Holman is optimistic with a few changes and more disciplined approach the Saints will be prepared for upcoming league games. “(We need to) learn from mistakes,” he said. “It’s a teaching moment, just like life and we’ll move on. There’s a lot of mistakes we need to clean up. We could’ve been a lot sharper in all three phases (of the game).”

Bogan shared after the game, “This was a great neighborhood slugfest. Our defense played huge and kept us in the game. Offensively, the offensive line stepped up big, and Noah Mikhail and Connor Spina ran the ball with unbelievable passion. It was a tremendous team victory.”

Sources

Marshall, Pete. “Bonita Football Team Rallies Past San Dimas to Win Smudge Pot Game.” High School Sports, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 10 Sept. 2022, https://www.sgvtribune.com/2022/09/10/bonita-football-team-rallies-past-san-dimas-to-win-smudgepot-game/.

Peterson, Tim. “Smudge Pot Remains with Bonita.” Smudge Pot Game 2022, Mid Valley Sports, 11 Sept. 2022, http://midvalleysports.com/?p=77061#more-77061.

“Spina & Mikhail Combine for 199 Yards Rushing in Bonita’s 21-13 Victory Over SDHS; Bearcats Win Fourth Consecutive Smudge Pot Game.” Football , 210 Prep Sports, 11 Sept. 2022, https://210prepsports.com/2022/09/11/spina-bearcats-earn-fourth-consecutive-smudge-pot-triumph-over-saints/.

1972 Smudge Pot Reunion

Before the 50th Smudge Pot game hosted by San Dimas High School at Citrus College, members of the 1972 Saints and Bearcat teams had a reunion on the field in the west end zone. Food and gifts were given as the players reminisced about the first game in 1972 in which the Saints defeated the Bearcats  33-0.  One story that came out of the reunion was that the first game played between the schools was actually a Freshman game in 1970 that resulted in a 8 to 8 tie. The complete coaching staff of the 1973  Saints team was in attendance including Bob Biaz, the Saints first football coach and athletic director, and assistant coaches, Don Warhurst and Mark Olson (Olson was the JV Coach on the 72 team and moved up to varsity in 73).

Coach Biaz was the honorary captain during the coin toss and the players representing the 1972 teams were honored and announced on the field during a pre game ceremony.  The following players and coaches from 1972 were in attendance:

Varsity Bearcats

Varsity Saints