By Rick Assad
Special to MyBurbank
Week 12 – November 16th
(11-0-0) Junior Green 30 vs. Highland Eagles 8
(11-0-0) Midget Green 30 vs. Palmdale 0
(5-6-0) Bantam Black 26 @ S.C. Apaches 6
Bold = Home Game
Bantam Black won the Jim Thornton Invitational Championship on Saturday. Junior Green and Midget Green clinched their PYFL Super Bowl berths. The PYFL Super Bowls will be played this Saturday at Thousand Oaks High School.
PYFL Super Bowl XXI schedule–
Junior Green vs. Camarillo (4:30 pm)
Midget Green vs. North Oxnard Red (2:00 pm)
Junior Green 30 Highland 8
In the pregame warm-up prior to the Pacific Youth Football League East Conference semifinal game, the Highland Eagles tried to appear as fierce and menacing as possible.
This tactic failed miserably once the contest began as the defending Super Bowl champion Burbank Vikings Junior Green (11-0) took command early and romped to an easy 30-8 victory on Saturday at Valencia High.
The clash featured a potent Vikings’ running attack, a powerful aerial assault and a hard-hitting defense that surrendered a lone Highland touchdown and two-point conversion in the waning moments.
The onslaught began in the opening quarter when the Vikings pulled in front 14-0. The initial scoring drive came after two rugged runs by All-Star tailback Dante Coxsom, who had 123 yards on six carries.
Coxsom’s physical bursts were followed by a terrific catch from All-Star wide receiver Sebastian Leal (seven touches for 96 all-purpose yards) that led to quarterback Bryce Young’s 50-yard rocket to wide receiver Isaac Cordova (three receptions for 72 yards) that made it 6-0.
Young then found Leal with a 52-yard strike on the next series as the Vikings pulled ahead 12-0, and it became 14-0 on Young’s two-point toss to Cordova in the back of the end zone.
Burbank tacked on a touchdown and two-pointer in the second quarter as the Vikings took over at their 11-yard line.
On the first play fullback Loyal Terry gashed the Eagles for four yards up the middle before Coxsom’s 85-yard sprint down the Eagles’ sideline made it 20-0.
Making like one-time Detroit Lions’ All-Pro running back Barry Sanders, Coxsom started, stopped and then started again as the crowd simply watched in amazement.
Leal’s two-pointer was also dazzling as he evaded several Highland tacklers as the Vikings, who compiled 355 total net yards on 26 plays from scrimmage, pulled in front, 22-0.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Coxsom snared a well-timed screen pass from Young (six of 12 pass attempts for 174 yards) and raced 36 yards, which set up Leal’s five-yard waltz into the end zone that made it 28-0 in the fourth quarter. Young’s two-pointer gave the Vikings a 30-0 edge.
On the defensive side of the ledger, Burbank linebacker Cordova and defensive tackle Malachi Meeks each finished with 12 tackles.
Cordova had three solo hits and assisted on nine, while Meeks contributed two solo shots and assisted on 10.
Banged up linebacker Jake Moore had nine tackles, linebacker Manny Pimentel eight, linebacker Franco Alonso eight and defensive back Max Mota chipped in with seven.
(NOTE: the game summaries were turned in by the head coaches of their respective teams. ALL coaches were asked to send in recaps after each game. If you are a parent and would like to see your son’s information published, make sure your coach responds to our repeated requests. Thank you)
