By Rick Assad
For the second week in a row, the Burroughs High football team played well and registered a win in a Pacific League game.
On Friday evening against a much-improved Glendale team, the Bears found a way to emerge with a 34-12 victory at Memorial Field.
After dropping four consecutive games to commence the season, Burroughs has picked up a little bit of steam and momentum and with that lots of confidence.
The defense looked especially sharp as it intercepted three passes which halted a few promising drives.
Keith Recchia is the Bears’ defensive coordinator and sees much improvement in his unit.
“The guys are starting to play their responsibility and give the effort in doing so,” he said. “The first drive shook us a little bit, but our guys were able to gather themselves and get a stop.”
First-year Burroughs head coach Jose Calzadilla saw his team play well in spurts but wants more consistency.
“It was a tale of two halves. First half we executed well. Our plan came together nicely. Our guys haven’t been in the position of having a big lead at the half,” he said. “So, we came out flat and gave Glendale hope.”
Calzadilla added: “To their credit, their coach rallied them niceIy in the second half,” he offered. “Our poor play in the third quarter is hopefully a lesson learned for the future. I told the guys that we need to be better than that if we want to win games in the future.”
Burroughs used a potent two-headed running attack, and it yielded four rushing touchdowns with junior quarterback Brandon Chapparo (102 yards on 16 rushes) chipping in with two scores.
Chapparo’s first score came with 39 seconds left in the opening quarter and saw the Bears (2-4 and 2-1 in league) forge a 7-0 advantage.
The drive began at the Burroughs 10-yard line and ended 13 plays later with Chapparo’s short run.
Chapparo added an eight-yard scamper early in the fourth period that pushed the Bears in front 34-6 and capped a six-play, 34-yard march.
For good measure, Chapparo, who completed 10 of 21 attempts for 140 yards, tossed in a nicely timed seven-yard pass to senior wide receiver/free safety King Milhouse for his only reception with 2:21 left in the second frame for a 21-0 lead.
The drive began after an interception by senior wide receiver Brendan Smith and took 11 plays and covered 45 yards.
After missing several games with an injury, junior running back/defensive back Carson Shrode (31 yards on eight carries) contributed a two-yard scoring run with 8:18 left in the second period for a 14-0 edge.
When senior running back Sho Fujita (81 yards on 16 rushes) carried the ball into the end zone on a 17-yard burst, the Bears pulled ahead 28-0.
Glendale (1-5 and 0-3 in league), despite having only one win, is a much better product than in year’s past.
Senior quarterback Elijah Venegas, who hit 19 of 34 for 207 yards, sets the tone offensively and is assisted by the hard running of sophomore Arman Papazyan.
The Nitros sliced the lead to 28-6 when Papazyan (41 yards on 12 carries) found the end zone on an 18-yard burst and 7:56 left in the third period, ending a 65-yard, 10-play trek.
On the next to last play of the game, Venegas tossed a short pass to junior wide receiver/cornerback Arlen Aivzian (79 yards on four receptions), who then raced 65 yards into paydirt that cut the deficit to 22 points.
Senior cornerback/free safety Jamar Saint-Fleur and junior wide receiver Tony Sanchez each had one pick for the Bears.
Burroughs will be on the field next versus host Hoover on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. kickoff.
