One never knows what the CIF Southern Section playoffs will be like.
The Burroughs High football team drew a tough opponent and Agoura High was just as advertised, playing a solid four quarters that ended the Bears’ season in a 42-18 defeat in the first round of the Division 7 playoffs Friday at Memorial Field.
“It was a two-point game at the half, which is what we wanted,” Burroughs coach Jesse Craven said.
But things changed in the second half, as the Bears turned the ball over four times.
Agoura (8-3) scored on its first series of the second half to go ahead 21-12. Burroughs fumbled away its next series, which resulted in the Chargers getting great field position. They then scored five plays later on an 11-yard run by quarterback Harrison Novak. That made it 28-12.
Burroughs (9-2) fought back as Ethan Hubbell scored on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Chris Kulikov to cut the lead to 28-18. Hubbell had scored on a 93-yard touchdown in the first half.
Agoura responded quickly, however, as receiver Miles Hull took a screen pass and went 54 yards for the touchdown. Hull had 14 receptions for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
Teammate Brady Dieffenbach scored touchdowns on all his receptions, totaling 67 yards.
Burroughs nearly tied things early in the second quarter when Kulikov hooked up with Jake Scozzola on a 4-yard touchdown pass. But the Bears missed the extra point on all three of their touchdowns. Hubbell’s 93-yard touchdown gave Burroughs the lead, until Agoura scored with just 35.4 seconds left in the first half to go up 14-12 at halftime.
Even though the season didn’t end as he had hoped, Craven was proud of his kids in winning the school’s first league title in nine years.
“These guys battled their heart out. I’m so proud of them. These seniors turned this program around. They committed to it. I have nothing but gratitude for all the things they’ve meant to this program,” Craven said.
Kulikov finished 12 of 21 for 236 yards and three touchdowns. He also had four interceptions. Novak finished 21 of 29 for 254 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Agoura coach Dustin Croick was impressed with how his team played.
“We knew this was going to be a tough game. We didn’t play well in the first half, but we made the right adjustments at halftime. That was the big thing for us. We played well in the second half,” Croick said.
Agoura will play at Muir High in the second round of the playoffs next week.
