By Rick Assad
It’s late September and the Pacific League champion may have been crowned when Burbank High’s football team hosted powerful Muir on Friday night.
When the clock hit triple zeroes at jammed-packed Kemp-Kallem Field on a brisk evening, the Mustangs emerged with a convincing 58-28 triumph over the Bulldogs.
Burbank turned the ball over on two interceptions and had a fumble that was returned for a 22-yard touchdown by junior lineman/tight end Jason Brown with 8:25 left in the second period for a 28-7 lead.
Burbank junior quarterback Deshawn Laporte’s 15-yard pass to senior wide receiver/strong safety Chase Miles (45 yards on two receptions) early in the third quarter, made the score 35-21.
“It was a tough loss last night. As a team we didn’t play our best,” Miles explained. “We game-planned for their offense all week but couldn’t execute in the game. We just have to bounce back from this loss and learn from our mistakes for next week.”
Muir led 14-7 after the first quarter and the visitors were in front 35-14 at halftime. The Mustangs also took a 45-28 advantage heading to the fourth period.
Hector Valencia is Burbank’s head coach and even in defeat, thought his field general played hard.
“Deshawn did a good job getting away from their really good defensive line,” he said of his signal-caller who hit 19 of 36 for 324 yards and two picks.
As expected, Laporte was disappointed with the loss, but thinks the team is still talented and deep and ready for a long run.
“We took a step away from our game plan,” he said of the setback.
Muir showed its might by tallying a 27-yard field goal with 7:47 left in the third quarter by senior Matthew Zuniga to make it 38-21 and added three touchdowns over the next twenty-three minutes.
Laporte’s 30-yard scoring toss to Miles evened the game at 7-7 with 5:20 left in the opening frame.
The Bulldogs (3-2 and 1-1 in league) drew within 28-14 on a Laporte to senior wide receiver/cornerback Elijah Pendleton (18 yards on two receptions) 12-yard pass and 2:26 remaining in the opening half.
Laporte unloaded his fourth scoring pass with 5:22 left in the third period when he found sophomore wide receiver/safety Tyler Hudson (175 yards on eight catches) on a 37-yard aerial as Burbank came within 38-28.
“We had a good week of practice and the team was prepared to face Muir,” Valencia said. “Unfortunately turnovers really hurt us today, plus a few critical penalties that killed some drives. Our players were in position on most of the big plays they had. They simply just out hustled us.”
Valencia explained what it takes to beat a team like the Mustangs.
“Muir just does not have many weaknesses, so if you make a small mistake, they capitalize on it really fast,” he said.
Muir senior quarterback Trey Gamble also threw four touchdowns and his first came on a five-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Ethan Leyland as 9:44 was left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
With 1:31 left before halftime, Gamble (14 of 20 for 290 yards) found senior wide receiver/defensive back Alijah Smith (147 yards on five receptions) on a 63-yard strike for a 35-14 advantage.
When Gamble and Smith hooked up on a 28-yard toss and 1:55 left in the third quarter, the Mustangs (4-1 and 2-0 in league) led 45-28.
Gamble’s last scoring toss went to junior Deveon Blaylock (111 yards on five catches) and covered 38 yards and made it 52-28 with 8:41 left.
Muir moved ahead 14-7 late in the first quarter on a one-yard jaunt by junior running back/linebacker David Cannon.
Senior running back/defensive back Alijah Parker (11 carries for 60 yards) tacked on a nine-yard scoring run for the Mustangs that made it 21-7 and 8:45 left in the first half.
Senior wide receiver Exodus Freeman had 66 yards on five receptions and junior tight end/middle linebacker Aiden Dagher added 20 yards on two catches for the Bulldogs.
Leyland had the first interception for the Mustangs and junior wide receiver/defensive back Drew Long had the other.
Burbank’s next league game will be against host Arcadia on Friday with a 7 p.m. start.
