Earlier this season Burroughs High was unable to prevent Village Christian from scoring on a goal line play with seconds left in the first half.
Fast forward a few weeks and Burroughs faced the same play, only this time it was on the road at Muir High and in the fourth quarter. The experience paid off as Burroughs came through and earned a 32-27 Pacific League victory.
It is Burroughs’ first victory on the road at Muir since 2006.
“We knew we had corrections that we had to make (at halftime) and we were able to make some explosive plays on offense and our defense stepped up in the second half and was able to more consistently stop the run,” Burroughs coach Jesse Craven said. “We still have three more very competitive games. This is a good step in the process, but it is only a step.”
On what was essentially the final play of the game, Burroughs stopped Muir running back Christian Bozeman on fourth down from the 2-yard-line with just seconds left to play.
Burroughs (6-1, 2-0 in league) had to rally after being down much of the game.
Muir (4-3, 1-1) forced Burroughs quarterback Chris Kulikov to fumble in the first quarter. Zion McDonald picked up the loose ball and ran 22 yards for the first touchdown of the game.
The Bears came back as Kulikov scored on a 2-yard keeper with 1:23 left in the first quarter to tie things at seven.
Muir came right back early in the second quarter when Bozeman scored on a 13-yard run. Burroughs countered less than 90 seconds later when Noah Frenkel scored on a 2-yard run, which made it 14-13.
Bozeman scored another touchdown with just 50.1 seconds left in the half to give Muir a 21-13 halftime lead.
Burroughs got another touchdown from Frenkel with 8:22 left in the third quarter, as he once again scored on a 2-yard run. The two-point conversion attempt was failed, as Muir maintained a 21-19 advantage.
The Bears took the first lead of the game with 1:17 left in the third quarter when Kulikov hooked up with Ryan Hernandez on a 46-yard touchdown pass right up the middle. Burroughs once again failed the two-point conversion.
Jake Scozzola gave Burroughs what would be the winning touchdown as he took a short pass and faked out a pair of defenders before racing 74 yards for the touchdown. This time Burroughs was successful on the extra point, which made it 32-21.
Muir was not done though, as Bozeman scored yet another touchdown with 7:07 to play, this time from 23 yards out.
Kulikov finished 14 of 19 passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns.
Bozeman, who had three touchdowns for Muir, finished with 93 yards in 17 carries. Muir also got 80 yards rushing from sophomore Alijah Parker.
Frenkel led Burroughs with 46 yards rushing in 12 carries.
Burroughs will play at Arcadia next Thursday night in a battle that could determine the Pacific League title.
