Burbank High football coach Adam Colman is tired of playing great, but coming up short on the scoreboard.
Friday night Colman got a great effort from his young Bulldogs against a Moorpark High team loaded with players who will be playing their trade on Saturdays in future years.
In the end, the Bulldogs fell just short, losing the season opener 14-7 at Memorial Field.
“Downey a couple of years ago, Hart last year, the CIF championship, We’ve been really close in a lot of big-time time games. I just want to get one,” Colman said. “I’m tired of moral victories. That’s the frustrating part. But those kids played with a lot of heart. I think it took them a quarter to really believe.”
Colman said he schedules difficult opponents like Moorpark, which will be in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs this year should it qualify for the postseason.
“We’re a young team. There’s a lot of returners from last year, but they’re still young. For them to believe,” Colman said of his players. “There are some legit football players on that team. When you can line up with those guys and go toe to toe you probably should have won if you did a couple of things differently, you can never walk into a game scared.”
Burbank junior quarterback Aram Araradian, who has spent some time on the varsity the last two seasons, grew up quickly. He completed 13 of 27 passes for 227 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Running back Isaac Glover was solid, carrying the ball 18 times for 72 yards.
The Bulldogs hurt themselves on offense by being called for a false start 14 times. They had just two more penalties the rest of the game.
Burbank had a chance to strike in the second quarter after getting the ball on the Moorpark 3-yard line following a snap on a punt that went over the head of Blake Sturgill, who is also Moorpark’s quarterback.
But penalties prevented the Bulldogs from getting on the board.
The game remained scoreless until late in the first half when Sturgill scored on a 1-yard keeper. Moorpark surprisingly didn’t move the ball as well as one might expect given that it has a massive offensive line. Moorpark left tackle Jonah Monheim, who is 6-foot-5 and is 290 pounds hold offers from Alabama, Oklahoma, and USC among others. The Muskateers have three more linemen at more than 250 pounds as well as 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end Lucas Egurbide.
Burbank tied things with 7:08 left in the third quarter as Araradian found Brandon Pena on a 31-yard touchdown.
Moorpark scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown with 4:09 left, as Sturgill hooked up with Ashton Benner on a 17-yard touchdown.
Burbank put together a nice drive to nearly tie things. But Moorpark sacked Araradian at the 25-yard line in the final minute of the game.
The Bulldogs go on the road next week against Golden Valley at Canyon High School in Canyon Country.
