By Rick Assad
Taking on a quality opponent in the season opener for the Burroughs High football team was planned and it worked to a point on Friday night at Memorial Field as a solid crowd gathered.
The Bears fell behind 17-0 to Hart before scoring their first touchdown and trailed by 24 points at halftime but proved stout in the second half after outscoring the Hawks 12-7 and losing 38-19 in a nonleague game.
There were several bright spots for Burroughs including senior quarterback Mingus Allen, who completed 17 of 26 attempts for 158 yards with a scoring pass in the second half.
Junior Matteo Tarca added 124 yards on 23 carries and had 43 yards on six receptions.
For good measure, Tarca, a running back and linebacker, found the end zone on carries of 16 yards that made it 17-7 with 6:26 left in the second period and 11 yards as the Bears (0-1) drew within 38-19 with 2:04 remaining in the game.
Senior tight end/linebacker Rocco Melillo tossed in four catches for 53 yards and had a 22-yard reception that trimmed the lead to 38-13 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter.
First-year Burroughs coach Laron Jonson remained upbeat despite the setback.
“Yes we can and will,” he said when asked if the second quarter was an indication of good things to come. “We played better in the second half.”
Keith Recchia is the defensive coordinator and saw good things that should help his team in the future.
“Of course it’s something to build on. Overall we played pretty well defensively, we just have to learn how to keep fighting, trust the process, and limit our errors,” he said. “Hart’s first two possessions started on our side of the 50. We can’t give teams good field position and a short field to work with.”
The Hawks, who lost to Quartz Hill 21-13 in their season opener, had two players that excelled, and they were junior quarterback Jacob Paisano and senior wide receiver Parker Maxwell.
Paisano passed for 233 yards on 11 of 19 with one interception snared by senior safety Braden Turner in the second half and Maxwell, at 6-feet-6, collected eight receptions for 200 yards and two scoring catches.
In its initial possession, the Hawks (1-1) moved from the Hart 47-yard line and led 3-0 on a 39-yard field goal as 9:38 remained.
The Hawks’ lead ballooned to 10-0 after a seven-yard catch from junior wide receiver/free safety Lewis Giordan and fumble at the Bears’ 27 and it took one play when Paisano drilled Maxwell with a 27-yard dart and 9:21 left in the first period.
Hart moved in front 17-0 on its third series when Paisano hit Maxwell with a 19-yard toss that capped an 88-yard, nine-play drive as 2:15 remained in the initial frame.
The Bears cut the lead to 17-7 on a well-executed 13-play, 80-yard march as Tarca added a 16-yard scoring run with 6:36 left in the second period.
Hart answered with a 59-yard drive on five plays as senior running back Zach Rogozik contributed a 13-yard scamper with 4:41 left that made it 24-7.
The final points of the opening half came with 23.3 seconds left as Hart was given excellent field position after a 31-yard punt return from senior Ryder Frith Smith that put the ball at the Bears’ 20-yard line.
Four plays later, it was 31-7 as Paisano ended the short drive with a one-yard sneak.
Hart’s only tally of the second half was an eight-yard run from Rogozik and 2:22 left in the third quarter for a 38-7 edge, capping the 62-yard march.
Burroughs shaved the lead to 25 points when Allen found Melillo with a 22-yard pass and 7:55 on the clock in the final frame and finalized an 80-yard march.
Tarca’s 11-yard run climaxed the 88-yard drive with 2:04 remaining and sliced the lead to 19 points.
Burroughs will next face host Harvard-Westlake on September 6 with a 7 p.m. start.
