By Jim Riggio
Special to MyBurbank
Entering Friday night’s tilt, the Burroughs High football team knew that if it wanted to have any chance of earning a share of the Pacific League title, they would have to knock off host Arcadia.
The Indians did that and with ease, cruising to a 37-14 victory.
What the Indians didn’t get was help from Crescenta Valley. The Falcons lost 39-26 to Muir of Pasadena, which remains as the only unbeaten team in league. A Muir loss would have created a three-way tie for first place with Burroughs and CV. Instead Muir is one win away from winning back-to-back league titles.
Despite hearing about the Muir win, Burroughs coach Keith Knoop fully understood what is at stake heading into next week’s “Big Game.”
“Our destiny is still ours,” Knoop said. “If we want to have a great seeding in the playoffs we have to beat Burbank and we’re second place outright. If we don’t, we don’t even want to talk about that, then it comes down to a coin flip and I have no control over coin flips.”
Burroughs (6-3, 5-1 in league) got on the board early as Javier Pineda scored on a 45-yard run with 8:53 left in the first quarter. The junior finished with 219 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns on the evening.
“It’s a credit to the offensive line for opening up those big holes,” Pineda said. “As soon as you see it you just have to hit it.”
Sean Johnson gave Burroughs a 14-0 lead by scoring on a 5-yard run with 11:18 left in the second quarter.
Eric Gordon pushed the lead to 21-0 with a 12-yard run at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter.
Arcadia (5-4, 3-3) got on the board late in the first half when quarterback Joey Harmon found Tealon Haggerty on a 10-yard screen pass.
Once again the tough Indians’ defense came through shutting down the Apaches. The defensive unit has allowed 14 points total the last three games combined.
Both teams received a scare early in the third quarter when Arcadia running back Bradley Mills went down feeling pain in his neck after carrying the ball. He was transported to a local hospital. Arcadia coach Andrew Policky said after the game that Mills had movement in his arms and legs and he expects him to recover.
Pineda helped Burroughs increase the lead to 28-6 on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 4-yard run.
Burroughs tacked on two points as Connor Gardon tackled Arcadia’s Nico Cantos in the end zone for a safety.
The Indians got solid play off the bench from sophomore running back Hunter Guerin, who finished with five carries for 95 yards. Guerin scored on an 18-yard run with 2:40 to play.
Arcadia’s Robbie Hillier returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
“I’m a little disappointed in that last kickoff return. That’s only the fourth one in 21 years. I’ve taken pride in not giving those up,” Knoop said of his time coaching at Burroughs.
With a week to prepare for Burbank in the regular-season finale, Knoop saw positives and negatives from Friday night’s game.
“We still have some special teams issues we need to fix,” he said. “We had some injuries. I didn’t throw the ball as much we would like to, but we ran the ball which is what we really do. But we’ve tried to be a passing team this year.
“They blitzed us early and we forced them out of it. We kind of dictated what we wanted to do offensively. Defensively we were too physical for them.”
The Indians will battle Burbank in the 65th edition of the “Big Game” on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.
A Burroughs win clinches at least second place in league and knocks Burbank out of the playoffs. A Bulldogs win coupled with a CV victory creates a three-way tie for second. A coin flip would determine which two of the three teams get in and which one will be on the outside looking in. The Pacific League only has three automatic playoff berths.
Muir plays Pasadena and CV will knock heads with Arcadia. But all eyes will be on the two cross-town rivals with city pride and a postseason berth hanging in the balance.
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Burbank (7-2, 5-2) rolled to an easy 49-0 victory on Thursday night against Hoover at Glendale High School. The Bulldogs scored 21 points in the first quarter and 28 more in the second to coast to a 49-point blitzing in the first half.
James “Slice” Williams rushed for 117 yards on eight carries and scored on touchdown runs of 21 and 39 yards. Joseph “Dice” Pendleton added 95 yards on five carries including a 50-yard touchdown run.
Ryan Meredith completed eight of 11 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns. Oharjee Brown caught four passes for 70 yards and had a 24-yard touchdown reception.
The Bulldogs must win next week against Burroughs to have a chance of making the CIF playoffs.
