LA CANADA — South Pasadena left no dispute and no room for argument as to which team is best in the competitive Rio Hondo League. The Tigers grabbed momentum in the second half to turn a 7-7 halftime tie into a 28-10 win over La Canada on Friday night to claim the outright league championship.

This is South Pasadena’s first outright league title since 1976. The Tigers shared the league crown last year with San Marino and Monrovia.

With the win, South Pasadena (8-2, 5-0) will head into next week’s CIF-Southern Section playoffs on a six-game winning streak. La Canada (8-2, 3-2) finished third in the league and will qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

“This is exciting for our program, our players, our coaching staff, our school and our community,” said South Pasadena coach Jeff Chi. “This is a huge accomplishment and I’m so happy for our boys. I’m so proud of the way they played.”

“I’m feeling great about how the season played out,” said South Pasadena running back Trey Freking, who rushed for 120 yards on 22 carries against the Spartans. “I have high hopes for what we have in front of us in the playoffs. I hope we can keep executing like we’ve been doing throughout league.”

The Tigers outscored La Canada 21-3 in the second half. Chi and Freking both credited adjustments on offense that were made at halftime.

“We watched (La Canada’s) films and they’ve been in a certain defensive front all year long,” Chi said. “And they came out with a different look tonight. It took us a little while to figure out what we needed to do because they had an extra (lineman) in there. Second half, we made some adjustments and we were able to run the ball a little better.”

Chi also said the coaches noticed the Spartans secondary was playing up. South Pasadena took advantage of that in the third quarter. Quarterback Andrew Nott faked a handoff and found Jordan Rogers open in the middle of the field for a 37-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead.

Nott finished with 104 yards passing, completing six of 8 attempts.

It was 14-10 halfway through the fourth quarter when Rogers came up big again for South Pasadena. He intercepted a Joe Bell pass at the South Pasadena 44 and returned it 45 yards to the La Canada 11.

Running back Rick Matsuda punched the ball into the end zone from three yards out three plays later to put South Pasadena up 21-10. That was Matsuda’s second touchdown run of the game.

A holding penalty and three incompletions forced La Canada to punt on its next drive. Freking then put the game away two plays later when he broke through the line for a 53-yard touchdown run with 3:57 left to put South Pasadena up 28-10.

La Canada was led by running back Sohan Garg. He rushed for 90 yards on 18 carries. Bell rushed for 62 yards on 11 carries. He also scored a touchdown but struggled with passing because of the tough South Pasadena defense. He only completed four of 20 passes for 87 yards.

The first half went as expected between the two run-oriented teams. It was fast-moving and low-scoring at 7-7. Both the Spartans and Tigers focused on their strength which is pounding the ball on the ground. La Canada was a little better, rushing for 104 yards in the half to South Pasadena’s 37. The Spartans outgained the Tigers in the half in total yards, 158 to 87.

La Canada struck first, taking a 7-0 lead with 3:30 left in the opening quarter when Bell kept the ball for a six-yard touchdown. That capped an 8-play, 82-yard drive. The highlight was a 32-yard completion from Bell to Garg on a wheel route down the left sideline on a 3rd-and-5 at the La Canada 40. That gave the Spartans the ball at the Tiger 28.

South Pasadena answered on its next drive. The Tigers got the ball at their own 24. They used 11 plays to march 76 yards to tie the game. It wasn’t easy though. South Pasadena faced a 4th-and-goal at the 1. Matsuda got the call and took the handoff to plunge into the end zone.

La Canada, on its next drive, faced a 4th-and-5 at the South Pasadena 24. The Spartans initially lined up to go for it but a timeout was called and the field goal unit was sent onto the field for a 41-yard try. Quest Swan’s kick had plenty of distance but was wide.

The Spartans had another opportunity to take the lead before halftime. They took over at their own 40 with 40 seconds left. A 35-yard run by Bell and a pass interference penalty gave La Canada the ball at the Tiger 13 with two seconds left. However, Swan’s field goal try bounced off the crossbar.

Both teams will find out Sunday who they play in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs and which division they will be in. But for right now, the Tigers just want to enjoy the league title for a couple of days.

“It’s like I have a huge second family,” Freking said. “Every single person on this team is my friend. Every single person has my back and I have theirs. The energy is amazing — every practice, every game. It’s just amazing to be a part of this program.”