By Rick Assad
Faced with a team that hasn’t won a game all season and down by seven points at halftime, the Burroughs High football team was in a dilemma.
The team needed to find its offense and fairly quickly and the defense needed to step up.
These obstacles proved not to be a problem as the Bears proceeded to score 33 straight points and shut out the opposition in the second half and polished off much-improved Hoover at Memorial Field 47-21 in a Pacific League game on Friday.
The Senior Night was filled with pageantry, excitement and lots of points and a strong defensive effort might be what Burroughs, which owns a five-game winning streak, needs when it plays powerful and talented Muir next Friday.
Burroughs first-year coach Laron Johnson was pleased with the second half effort.
“In the second half we really focused on our strategy and tightened up our defense,” he said. “The team adapted well, and it made a big difference. Looking forward to our next game.”
Senior quarterback Mingus Allen threw for three touchdowns and hit 16 of 26 passes for 185 yards and one interception on a tipped pass.
Allen’s scoring tosses found their way to senior running back/defensive back Julian Zubia in the first quarter and senior tight end/linebacker Rocco Melillo in the second and third periods.
Junior Matteo Tarca is a running back/outside linebacker and finished with 172 rushing yards.
Tarca had a one-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter and added a 65-yard dash a few minutes later.
Senior Braden Turner tossed in a 35-yard interception return for a score in the fourth period and sophomore quarterback Brandon Chaparro capped the evening with a 17-yard scoring run midway through the final period.
The Bears (5-1 and 3-0 in league) took a 7-0 lead on a 32-yard aerial from Allen to Zubia and 5:56 left in the first frame after beginning the five-play drive at the Burroughs 41.
The Tornadoes (0-6 and 0-3 in league) then scored three touchdowns for a 21-7 lead with 8:21 left before halftime.
Burroughs trimmed the deficit to 21-14 with 4:52 remaining in the second period as Allen orchestrated a 58-yard, seven-play march and nailed Melillo (48 yards on four receptions) with a seven-yard pass.
The Bears came out of the intermission and drove 66 yards and used seven plays that tied it at 21-21 when Allen found Melillo with a 24-yard strike and 6:29 left in the third period.
Burroughs tacked on a one-yard scoring run from Tarca with 11:56 left in the game for a 28-21 advantage, ending a 91-yard, 12-play march.
The lead swelled to 34-21 when Tarca pulled off a 65-yard scamper and 9:52 left and fifty-three seconds later it became 40-21 after a Turner interception was returned 35 yards as 8:59 was left on the clock.
Chaparro’s 17-yard run with 5:12 left in the contest ended an 80-yard, five play drive as the advantage became 26 points.
Keith Recchia is the Bears’ defensive coordinator and also thought the defense was spectacular over the last twenty-four minutes.
“In the first half we had guys doing stuff their own way and not focusing on their technique or what their coaches teach them every day,” he said. “We reset at halftime and got back to our defensive game and techniques. That obviously showed in the second half.”
Junior wide receiver/safety Giordan Lewis had 70 yards on four catches for the Bears.
Hoover’s A.J. Francisco is a junior and the quarterback found senior wide receiver/cornerback Javon Lymon with a seven-yard toss and 6:29 left in the initial frame that evened it at 7-7.
Lymon’s four-yard run early in the second quarter made it 14-7 in favor of the Tornadoes and senior running back Ryan Ho’s 20-yard burst with 8:21 remaining before halftime extended the lead to 21-7 and was set up by Lymon’s 45-yard punt return.
The Bears will host the Mustangs in a league game next Friday with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.
