The Burroughs High defense may be young, but the Bears are playing like veterans.
Friday night it was the defense that held the team together as Burroughs held off visiting Los Altos of Hacienda Heights 21-16 in a nonleague contest at Memorial Field.
“This team just fights. That’s the Burroughs way. I’m learning the Burroughs way. They are adopting me,” coach Laron Johnson said. “I told everyone in the huddle, once we get the penalties off and we start gelling, it is going to be fun.”
Burroughs (2-1) had to contend with Los Altos’ solid passing game behind quarterback Diego Castillo. Castillo completed 23 of 40 passes for 226 yards. He had two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Bears also played the game without two-way star Rocco Mellilo, who was nursuing a minor leg injury.
The Bears got on the board first as quarterback Mingus Allen hooked up with receiver Giordan Lewis on a 39-yard touchdown pass down the sideline with 5:42 left in the first quarter.
The Conquerors (1-2) fought back and received a 21-yard field goal from Robert Gomez with 5:07 left in the first half, making it 7-3.
Burroughs got a big break when Allen hooked up with Patrick Lima on a 26-yard touchdown with just 3.2 seconds left in the half.
That gave the Bears a big boost going into the halftime period.
After both teams failed to score in the third quarter, the final minutes of the contest were quite interesting.
Los Altos receiver Evan Rojas caught a short pass from Castillo and began running. He fumbled the ball on his own, but it bounced right back into his hands and he was determined in scoring a 36-yard touchdown.
With 5:59 to play, this cut the Burroughs lead to 14-10.
Burroughs came back with an answer. Matteo Tarca scored on a 24-yard run 3:28 to play, pushing the lead to 21-10.
Los Altos was not finished tough, as Castillo hooked up with Alonso Guerrero on a 10-yard touchdown with 1:59 to play.
Burroughs recovered the onsides kick attempt by Los Altos and able to run out the clock.
The Bears host Arcadia next Friday night in the Pacific League opener.
