A victory would have essentially guaranteed a playoff berth for the Burroughs High football team.
But things didn’t turn out as the Bears would have liked, falling 24-7 to host Pasadena High in a Pacific League contest Friday night.
“I like nothing about tonight. Tonight we did not play with any heart. We did not play with any fight,” Burroughs coach Laron Johnson said. “They (Pasadena) deserved to win. Now we have to fight for our life next week.”
Burroughs will face Burbank in ‘The Big Game’ next Friday at Memorial Field.
The Bears (6-3 overall, 4-2 in league) did not score until the fourth quarter, when backup quarterback Brandon Chaparro scored on a 2-yard run with 4:57 to play.
Pasadena (4-5, 4-2 in league) got just a 33-yard field goal by Matthew Zuniga to lead 3-0 at halftime.
The Bulldogs got a key break early in the third quarter when Josiah Rucker intercepted a pass by Burroughs quarterback Mingus Allen and ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown.
Pasadena had gone up 17-0 early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Dutch Burbridge hooked up with Tyler Callum on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Rucker added a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:52 to play, giving the Bulldogs a three possession lead late in the fourth quarter.
“It is a tough loss, but it is over and we have to move on to our next one,” said Burroughs defensive back Julian Zubia, who had an interception and helped break up a Pasadena opportunity throw the air. ” We’re pretty excited about next week. We have a lot of things to work on. Hopefully we’ll do better next week.
Burroughs got 79 yards rushing from Matteo Tarca, who had 13 carries.
Allen completed 11 of 23 passes 48 yards. He was intercepted three times.