The Wolverines were led by two Tehron O’Neal ’09 touchdown runs and their defense, which relentlessly held the Pasadena attack to five straight punts in the first half. The defense made their presence felt on the very first drive of the game, by forcing a Pasadena turnover deep in their own territory, which led to a short run by O’Neal for an early touchdown, making the score 6-0.

“I think we’ve got to attribute our defense to off-season conditioning,” defensive tackle Ross Gruber ’08 said. “When it came down to it in the third and fourth quarter when they were cramping up, we still played strong.” Gruber had two sacks on the game.

The first half ended with the Wolverines leading 9-0 after a Brian Hentschel ’10 field goal 30 seconds before halftime. The third quarter remained a defensive struggle, with neither team scoring until Hentschel kicked another field goal to make it 12-0. Midway into the quarter, defensive lineman Jakarri Hamlin ’08 went out with an elbow injury. He was on the sideline with a sling in the fourth quarter.

Pasadena gained momentum during the fourth quarter, and on the second play of the quarter, Bulldog quarterback Tyron Crockum broke for a long touchdown run, bringing the Bulldogs to within just one score of tying or taking the lead. For Head Coach Vic Eumont, this brought back nightmares from last year’s showdown in Pasadena where the Wolverines gave up a 21 point lead in the second half.

“Last year we had [the game] under control and then gave it away, and then found ways to give it away later,” Eumont said. “This year, we fought back at the end and finished it off.”

The next offensive drive Berman connected with Corey Vann ’09 for a third down, 38 yard pass for the score. This also marked Berman’s first touchdown as a starting quarterback, but it was not until O’Neal’s 31 yard touchdown run in the middle of the fourth quarter that everyone could push the idea of another Pasadena comeback out of their heads. With the score 26 to 6 and only 6 minutes left, the run sent the fans into a frenzy, broke open the game for good. The win allowed the team to prove that they have moved beyond the nomenclature given to the last year’s team.

“Last year, we were known as the “Cinderella story” because we won 10 games. But was it a fluke? Was it luck? All those answers come out this year with a new team,” Eumont said.

To O’Neal, who took the number of his brother Terry ’07, one of the main seniors on last year’s team, it was just another run.

“What I was thinking was how I just wanted to get to the house,” O’Neal said. He credited his blockers, who had been allowing him consistent runs all game.

Friday’s game was the first official start for quarterback Sean Berman ’09, the first game for Jonathan “Moose” Martin ’08 as a college recruit, and the first ever “Friday Night Lights” affair at Slavin.

“This is a huge thing for our school to come out with a victory as big is this one,” Berman said of the game. “I was really excited to get out here and play, and for the result as a team we’re all really excited about it.”

To Eumont, not only was this a big win, but the first of many short term goals this season.

“Our goal is to win the next one,” he said. “If we’re undefeated, we can stay with 14, if we lose one, we’ve got to drop that number down. But if you get to the state championship, you’ve played 14 weeks.”

The team’s next game is Sept. 7 at Van Nuys high school, and the next home game is Sept. 14 against Burroughs.

“You certainly want to play at home, where you hope to have a great crowd,” Eumont said. “But it’s our job as a football team to get them to come back.”