By Rick Assad
Any football game that’s played on the road isn’t going to be easy for the team that has to travel.
On Friday night in a nonleague clash between Burroughs High and host Hueneme played at Channel Islands High, the Bears may been been road weary after traveling 65 miles, which played a part in dropping a 20-0 decision to the Vikings.
The Bears (1-2) have had trouble putting points on the scoreboard this season and Friday was no different.
It doesn’t help matters that senior running back Jon English, who can also fill in at quarterback, was out of the lineup for the second game in a row.
Even with a record under .500, second-year coach Jesse Craven sees a sunny future for the Bears.
“For any good offense, you need great rhythm and we’ve had it and then we haven’t,” he said. “It’s still early in the season and next week will be the fifth week. We have a lot of football games left.”
Burroughs, which lost to host St. Genevieve 32-0 and then knocked off visiting Westchester 21-6, saw Hueneme dash ahead 8-0 at the end of the first quarter after surrendering a long, 60-plus yard scoring pass and a two-point conversion.
Neither team located the end zone in the second period and the score was 8-0 at the intermission.
“Our defense played really well tonight and they’re going to give us a chance to win,” Craven said. “Right now we need our offense to match our defense and then we’ll be full speed when we identify who we are in the [Pacific] League.”
The Vikings (2-2) scored a touchdown in the third quarter and had a 14-0 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
Hueneme added a touchdown in the fourth quarter and led 20-0, which turned out to be the final score.
The hosts came into the fray with a 1-2 record after winning their first game 45-26 over visiting Channel Islands.
Hueneme then fell to host Knight [Palmdale] 32-26 and lost at Thousand Oaks 48-20.
For the second time this season, the Bears will have a home game at Memorial Field, this time a nonleague match against Harvard-Westlake with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
