Coaching for Pizza: The 90th East Los Angeles Classic, Roosevelt vs. Garfield

Friday, October 24, 2025

Our season long adventure seeing American football games in new and different sites continued on this fine Autumn evening.

We were headed to East Los Angeles College to view first hand one of the most storied rivalry games in all of the United States.

Yes indeed, Jacob and Michael joined me as we were off to experience . . .

The 90th Edition of this quintessential

High School neighborhood brawl,

the Roosevelt Rough Riders vs.

the Garfield Bulldogs

But first, we had a stealth, undercover assignment to take care of before our traditional pre-game meal.

Our sealed instructions said to drive down the 118 Freeway on the north end of the San Fernando Valley and get off on the Reseda Boulevard exit. We were then to turn right onto Reseda Boulevard and continue until we saw a black sedan parked with a white automobile parked in front of it.

We saw a white car but no black one, we stopped anyway and our two menacing contacts got out of their ride simultaneously.

They looked both a bit Balkan and a bit familiar.

Oh, it was Joanne and Paul Sabolić with a present in hand.

They annually give us a gift of a Danbury Mint, University of Washington themed Christmas ornament. They have always been a joy to receive and we proudly display them all during the yuletide season.

They had the 2025 ornament for us, but why all of the clandestine shenanigans?

Santa in a Washington RV warmly

inviting kids in to see his many toys

Hmm . . .

I now saw the need to pass this gift ornament on to us in a covert fashion.

MAZEL TOV!

The exchange was made successfully and we headed on to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles for dinner.

We prayed that we would not be pulled over by either the police or ICE agents with that Santa ornament in our possession.

We arrived finally one of America's finest dining spots, one that Jacob requested us to revisit after eating there in August after one of the boys' Civil War Reenactments.

This well maintained sign that

greeted us is now 14 years old

El Tepeyac #1 is a Boyle Heights

classic dining spot located about

a mile from Roosevelt H.S.

A great success story of an

immigrant family's hard work ethic

Hollenbeck Burritos are smaller

but by no means small

The size of the Manuel's Special Burritos

can only be explained due to exposure

to atomic radiation

We got the same table as before

with no problem

When we arrived, the parking lot was empty and there was no line queued out front jockeying for a seat in the small dining area.

Was it closed?

No, it WAS open but where was

the usual bustling crowd

We asked the waitress about the lack of customers and she said it was two things.

First, the Los Angeles Dodgers were on TV playing in the first game of the 2025 World Series and there are no TVs in El Tepeyac, and secondly, there was this BIG high school football game tonight.

We knew that.

My Machaca Hollenbeck Burrito

It was incredible but I had to ask for a to-go box for the half I could simply not eat at this one sitting.

My burrito had beef, guacamole, beans and rice with a wet top of mildly spicy salsa.

Michael went with the Original Hollenbeck Burrito that substitutes pork for the beef in mine.

He couldn't finish his either.

We are both sadly past our eating prime.

Jacob ordered the cheese plate

We were all surprised when he

found two chicken tacos under all

of that good looking queso

He is definitely NOT past his prime eating years.

More than sated, we were on to East Los Angeles College's Weingart Stadium to watch an extravaganza.

The schedule called for three games this afternoon and evening, all between Boyle Heights' Roosevelt H.S. Rough Riders and East Los Angeles' Garfield H.S. Bulldogs who are located a scant four miles apart.

Roosevelt H.S. was established in 1922 and Garfield soon followed, first opening its doors 100 years ago in 1925.

The first Varsity football team between the two schools occurred in 1925 and they have played every year since except from 1939 and 1948 for Depression Era and World War II related issues I was told. Of course, there was no game in 2020 due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

The J.V. Boys football team kicked off the festivities at 3:15 p.m. Their game was long over before we arrived but we found out that Garfield (8-1) won it easily 40-6 to claim the 2025 Eastern League crown. Roosevelt's J.V.s dropped to 4-5 on the season.

The Girls' Varsity Flag football game was set to start at 5:45 p.m with the Boys' Varsity football game to follow at 7:45 p.m.

That was an unusually late start for a Southern California high school game nowadays as the vast majority kickoff at 7:00 p.m.

The two East LA Classic Trophies

Flag on the left, Tackle on the right

with Weingart Stadium in the background

The picture is from the Boyle Heights Beat

Boys Varsity Helmets

Roosevelt on the left, Garfield on the right

The picture is from the Boyle Heights Beat

We entered the stadium at 6:45 p.m. not knowing how long a night we were going to have.

Girls' Flag Team was 7-4

Boys' Varsity Team was 6-2

Girls' Flag Team was 10-7

Boys' Varsity Team was 4-4

We quickly found out that the East L.A. Classic was sponsored by Nike and . . .

. . . the Los Angeles Rams!

We opted to sit on the Garfield home side and found it to be a hub of activity.

Tons of souvenir stands

A good photo op

Even more souvenirs and, yes, there

were several aromatic food stands too

Above one of the entrance tunnels,

East Los Angeles College is even

older than me!

I saw my first ever American football game in this stadium on September 14, 1956.

It was billed as the Second Annual International Football Game, a contest between the Los Angeles State College Diablos and the Mexico Politecnico Burros Blancos. The Diablos prevailed 69 years ago, 35-13.

Jacob leading us to our

first look at The Classic

The Girls' Flag game was just starting

their Second Half

The Stadium was all decked out

How many cheerleaders do

Garfield actually have?

Garfield, on the left, on Offense

INSIDE RUN!

Roosevelt trying to comeback in

the Fourth Quarter

It was too much Garfield tonight in this one.

Final Score

Garfield (8-4) - 19

Roosevelt (10-8) - 0

The Bulldogs had now won the first two game of the Classic, on to the Main Event, an Eastern League affair.

Both schools cheerleaders left us . . .

. . . MESMERIZED!

Both HUGE bands took the field

Roosevelt's to our left

Garfield's right in front of us

On the other side of the stadium,

the Rough Riders marched in . . .

. . . carrying a Mexican flag

This picture is from the Boyle Heights Beat

Given the threatening atmosphere that has surrounded the largely Mexican-American communities of both the Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, this was a bold, heartfelt move.

With a crowd of well over 15,000 in attendance, there was no MAGA or ICE presence tonight.

Garfield hit the field out of the

mouth of their inflatable Bulldog

Here come the Bulldogs

This picture is from the Boyle Heights Beat

The first 89 games between Garfield and Roosevelt saw the Bulldogs leading the closely contested, hard fought series by the slimmest of margins, 42-41-6.

James A. Garfield H.S. Bulldogs

6-2 overall, 5-0 Eastern League

2025 Results

vs. Bakersfield (6-2) – Lost 34-0

at La Palma Kennedy (4-4) – Won 42-38

vs. Banning (4-5) – Lost 21-20

vs. Legacy (4-4) – Won 37-6 *

at Huntington Park (1-7) – Won 35-28 *

at Bell (2-7) – Won 34-19 *

vs. South East (1-7) – Won 45-30 *

at South Gate (5-3) – Won 39-28 *

* Eastern League Game

vs.

Theodore Roosevelt H.S. Rough Riders

4-4 overall, 3-1 Eastern League

2025 Results

at Paramount (3-5) – Lost 56-0

vs. Lawndale (4-4) – Lost 49-7

vs. Monrovia (5-3) – Lost 46-6

at North Hollywood (5-3) – Won 27-16

at South Gate (5-3) – Lost 54-44 *

at Legacy (4-4) – Won 16-13 *

vs. Huntington Park (1-7) – Won 22-14 *

vs. South East (1-7) – Won 28-20 *

* Eastern League Game

The Game is FINALLY afoot

Between the two games ahead of this one and all sorts of speeches, pomp and circumstance befitting of a game called a Classic, the game started later than advertised.

This Opening Kickoff took place at 8:03 p.m.

Garfield's Offense meant BUSINESS!

The Roosevelt stands were full . . .

. . . but not as full as Garfield's

The Rough Riders Double Wing

bunched up Offensive formation

Roosevelt relies on a potent

ground attack almost exclusively

End of the First Quarter

Garfield - 6

Roosevelt - 0

We all liked the vast number of

Alumni wearing their lettermen's jackets

That third patch on this Garfield jacket is definitely anti-Roosevelt related.

Garfield EXPLODING for a

33 yard QB Sweep TOUCHDOWN!

A successful Bulldogs

two-point PAT attempt

Halftime Score

Garfield - 20

Roosevelt - 8

It was now 9:02 p.m.

I glanced up to the scoreboard to see that the Halftime extravaganza was set to last FORTY-FIVE MINUTES!

Maybe Bad Bunny was going to use the Classic to practice for his much anticipated Super Bowl Halftime Show?

I decided to going hunting for food and stretch my limbs.

This taco stand looked AWESOME!

Their meat was sizzling and gave

off fantastic fragrances but the

line was too long for me

The hot dog stand also looked promising with fine aromas as well and their line only had two people in it.

SOLD!

Back in the stadium, every possible marching band, mariachi band, drill team, cheerleading squad and dance group at both schools were given their moments in the bright spotlight to perform in front of the super positive crowd that was cheering for everybody in a positive bit of community pride.

Garfield's Aztec Dance Team

was AWESOME!

The Third Quarter Kickoff occurred at 9:52 p.m.

The Third Quarter was more

of Garfield's dominance

This picture is from the Boyle Heights Beat

Brothers playing tonight for each team

This picture is from the Boyle Heights Beat

Roosevelt's Senior WR/DB Jordan Nunez and Garfield's Junior RB/DB Mario Nunez are brothers playing for opposite sides in tonight's Classic.

Their older brother L.L. wore number 33 when he played for the Rough Riders, thus each brother wears number 3 tonight. Thus, when they take photos side-by-side it says 33, L.L.'s number.

President Theodore Roosevelt had a famous saying, "Speak softly and carry a . . .