By Steve Knez
BurbankNBeyond Staff Writer
No team from the city of Burbank in any division has won the Pacific Youth Football League Super Bowl. In the entire 19-year history of the league, only three teams from the Burbank Vikings program have made it to the championship game but none of them were victorious. However, Super Bowl XX on Saturday at Thousand Oaks High School features not one, but two Burbank teams with legitimate chances to win it all.
Senior Green (10-1) plays North Oxnard Black at 7:00 p.m. and Midget Green (11-0) plays Ventura Black at 2:00 p.m. Both teams won hard fought contests in last Saturday’s semi-final games and both teams are focused and determined to be the first Vikings team to bring the PYFL Super Bowl title to Burbank.
“We are a very athletic team,” Senior Green Coach Joe Manasewitsch said. “We match up very well with Oxnard and we have a great chance to win.”
It doesn’t take long to notice that Senior Green has plenty of height and athletic ability. They can run the ball extremely well and they can pass with success when necessary. They average more than 43 points per game.
Senior Green’s only blemish came in week seven in a heartbreaking 24-22 loss to Calabasas in which the Vikings uncharacteristically had four costly turnovers. Otherwise, Senior Green has been near perfect with five shutouts in 11 total games.
However, North Oxnard Black (11-0) has won two straight Super Bowl titles and has not lost a game since 2009. Its last loss came in Super Bowl XVII when they were in the Bantam Division.
Star running back Khalid Taylor is not impressed. Neither is linebacker Jake Kelley or running back Brandon Beardt. All three were recently selected to the PYFL Southern Division All-Star team but they are not concerned about their opponent’s resume.
“Their record is impressive but they haven’t seen anything yet,” said Kelley, whose two touchdowns in last week’s semi-final game helped the Vikings defeat perennial rival Santa Clarita. “We are going to bring the title home to Burbank.”
Other Senior Green representatives named to the All-Star team include Michael Woods, Damien Flores, Ryan Yadon, Antonio Tucker and Nick Warren.
