Alex Yoon

SOUTH PASADENA — Unfortunately for the Glendale High football team, its game on Friday night at Solari Stadium in South Pasadena had all the makings of another long night for the Nitros. South Pasadena easily got out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter and it looked like the Nitros were going to get steamrolled for the second week in a row. Glendale went down swinging though as it came down to the last minute, as the Tigers won 27-21. It was an emotional night for the Nitros coaching staff, who were all close with former Crescenta Valley Coach Gordy Warnock, who died on Wednesday.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — The La Cañada High football team ran a simple offense against Glendale on Friday. The Spartans had quick handoffs to their fullbacks, had quarterback rollouts and options, and stuck with a basic offense throughout the night. And the Nitros couldn't stop it. The Nitros knew that La Cañada liked to run, but it didn't matter. As Glendale Coach Alan Eberhart put it, the nonleague contest was simply about "tackling," and the Nitros couldn't do enough of it. La Cañada built a 27-point lead in the first half and gave up 17 straight before holding off the Nitros for a 40-17 home win. "La Cañada is bigger and stronger than we are," Eberhart said.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Slipping straight through the grasp of Glendale High and right into the lap of Crescenta Valley. While that describes a game-changing muffed punt return from Friday night's Pacific League football game at Moyse Field, it's also a fitting synopsis of how the Falcons were able to take advantage of a momentum-switching play early in the second half to turn a tie game into a 35-14 victory. "It changed the whole game," first-year Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling said of Alec Traber's muffed-punt recovery on the Nitros' 19-yard line with just under four minutes gone by in the third quarter, a play that set up a go-ahead touchdown and got the Falcons' sluggish offense rolling to the tune of four straight unanswered touchdowns.

GIRLS' SWIMMING Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy 77, Saddleback Valley Christian 22: The Tologs capped off a perfect 10-0 season with a nonleague victory at home Thursday. Sacred Heart won all 11 events with seven swimmers taking home individual victories. Emily Balog, a junior, was the lone double winner individually, as she won the 100-yard butterfly in 1 minute 2.04 seconds and the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.01, which was good for a CIF Southern Section Division I consideration time.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE - Propelled by the play of a singles bracket that engineered a successful start and remained dominant throughout, Glendale High's boys' tennis team took down visiting Hart, 11-7, on Tuesday afternoon in a wild-card match of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. "I figured we had the advantage in singles," Nitros Coach Bob Davidson said, "which we clearly did. " Bolstered by an impressive sweep from freshman No. 2 singles Arin Meserkhani, Glendale (10-6)

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL St. Francis 3, Village Christian 0: Michael Bacall finished with 13 kills Thursday to lead the visiting Golden Knights (3-0) to a 25-18, 25-13, 25-20 nonleague win. Chris Thompson contributed 25 assists for St. Francis. BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Glendale 103, Muir 33: Tristan Pacba won the 110-meter hurdles in 16.7 seconds and the 300 hurdles (45.0) to lead the Nitros in a Pacific League dual meet Thursday. Glendale also received first-place efforts from Brian Shieh in the 3,200 in 10:42, Josh Carlos in the 800 (2:04.5)

GLENDALE — Both the Glendale High and Hoover football teams arrive at the last week of the season riding prolonged losing streaks. They're both winless in league and the Nitros are still searching for their first victory of the season. Come 7 p.m. today at Moyse Field, all of that will likely cease to matter. That will be evident by the pageantry and fanfare that accompany the Pacific League season finale that merits its own title — the "Battle for the Victory Bell" — and draws the biggest turnout from the community that Moyse's expansive bleachers see all year.

GLENDALE — The following are previews of the area's upcoming high school football games this week. Three straight losses have put the St. Francis High football team in a precarious position as it plays host to Chaminade, the No. 2 team in the CIF Southern Section Western Division, on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in a crucial Mission League contest. While another loss for the Golden Knights (3-3, 0-1 in league) won't exactly put their playoff hopes in dire straits, another defeat would likely expunge any hopes of claiming one of the top two spots in league and would continue and unfortunate tailspin for St. Francis.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 69th year, meets Tuesdays at the Elk's Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the first meeting of the year. EBERHART RECAPS OPENING VICTORY Glendale High Coach Alan Eberhart normally doesn't bring up the subject matter of playing cross-town rival Hoover until the teams meet in the final week in the "Battle for the Victory Bell. " That wasn't the case Tuesday. Glendale began its season Thursday with a 20-6 nonleague victory against Hoover at Moyse Field.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 69th year, meets Tuesdays at the Elk's Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the sixth meeting of the year. PACIFIC COACHES DISSECT LOSSES It was a rough week for the three Pacific League club-member teams, as Crescenta Valley High, Glendale and Hoover combined to go 0-3 in league play. Falcons Coach Paul Schilling was left scratching his head after his team rolled up 567 yards of total offense, yet still came away with its first loss of the league season, 53-42, at Pasadena on Friday.