Nick Acuna kicked a 28-yard field goal with no time remaining as San Marino rallied to defeat visiting Burroughs 33-31 in a Boulder League contest Friday night.
The win helped San Marino clinch a playoff berth, something Burroughs would have also done had Acuna not made the kick. Burroughs will now have to defeat Crescenta Valley next week if it wishes to advance to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
“You can’t let the moment get too big for you. As a kicker, the moment relies on you. I was trying to get the crowd to settle down a little bit,” said Acuna, who made two field goals in the game.
The loss was heartbreaking for Burroughs (3-5, 2-2 in league), as the Bears rallied from being down 30-19 with less than four minutes to play.
Burroughs quarterback Sean Ghaman found Brandon Chapparo on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 3:32 left to cut the lead to 30-25. Burroughs was unsuccessful on the two-point conversion attempt.
The Bears came up with a huge play on San Marino’s ensuing drive, as Mikhail Fox intercepted Titans quarterback Parker Wilson at the 42-yard-line.
Burroughs then carefully moved up the field. Gavin Tubbs had a tremendous 23-yard catch to keep the driving going. Eventually Sho Fujita scored on a 3-yard run with 1:19 to play. Burroughs did not convert the two-point conversion, making it 31-30.
“I’m super proud of my guys. They had great resilience. They kept coming back. They didn’t crumble,” Burroughs coach Jose Calzadilla said. “IIt would have been easy after the long touchdown on the kickoff. But we came back and we played.”
San Marino had taken a double-digit lead on Burroughs early in the fourth quarter as Chase Mena returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown with eight minutes to play.
The touchdown came after Fujita had cut the lead to 23-19 as he scored on a 3-yard run with 8:14 to play.
San Marino took a 23-13 lead with 59 seconds left in the third quarter as Wilson hooked up with E-Man Samaniego on a 4-yard touchdown pass.
The Titans had what could have been a huge momentum swing on the final play on the first half when Wilson threw up a Hail Mary pass that Miles Watlington caught and scored on. It gave San Marino a 16-13 lead going into the intermission.
Fujita, who finished with 156 yards in 25 carries, scored the first of his three touchdown with 1:20 left in the first half, as he ran 42 yards on a counter draw play.
Acuna had a 38-yard field goal with 2:56 left in the first half to give San Marino a 9-7 lead.
Burroughs got on the board first, as Carson Shrode scored on a 17-yard run with 11:05 left in the first half.
San Marino cut the lead to 7-6 as Wilson found Mena on a 54-yard touchdown with 8:55 left in the half. San Marino was stopped short on the two-point conversion attempt.
“We’re going to play CV and I think my guys are ready,” Calzadilla said of next week’s contest. “We’re fired up and ready to go. We know the playoffs are at stake for everyone.”
Ghaman finished the game completing 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Wilson, the Titans’ quarterback, completed 10 of 16 for 199 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
