By Damaris Duran
The Burbank High football team didn’t have the best of times getting to its football game Friday night in Perris against Orange Vista High.
The Bulldogs’ bus broke down en route to the Riverside County school, causing the contest to start late.
But the Bulldogs didn’t let a minor setback before the whistle interfere with the plans they had for on the field.
With elevated spirit and energy that the team brought with them onto the field, the Bulldogs pulled off a surprising 35-21 come-from-behind victory to earn their first victory of the season.
“Control what you can control. Just lock in mentally, start visualizing and you’re ready to go,” Coach Adam Colman said about what he told his team.
The night started in Orange Vista’s favor when junior Randy Wilkins scored the game’s first touchdown in the first quarter.
But Bulldog junior Jarren Flowers helped even things up as his 45-yard interception return with 2:57 left made it 7-7.
By the end of the first quarter, Orange Vista had scored again to take a 14-7 lead.
Both teams demonstrated strong defenses that the scoreboard remained intact throughout the second quarter.
Burbank drew even again late in the third quarter as quarterback Aram Araradian completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to junior Brandon Pena.
It was anybody’s game at that point going into the fourth quarter before Burbank stepped up and took over.
With less than seven minutes remaining, once again, Araradian completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Pena to give Burbank a 21-14 lead.
On Orange Vista’s ensuing drive, senior Vincent Vang intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, the Bulldogs’ second pick-six of the night.
Orange Vista was not finished, however, as it rallied quickly to score, cutting the difference to 28-21.
To finish the night off, senior Ian Miller scored returned an onsides kick attempt by Orange Vista all the way with just 31 seconds left to play.
“[We’ll] get home, get some sleep, wake up tomorrow, watch some film and get back to work,” said Coach Colman. “We got Hart next week and it’s a great program, great team, so we’ve got to get back to work.”
