By Neil Healy
As lightning lit up the Northern Nevada sky, a different storm was brewing on the gridiron of Galena High School on Friday night, and that storm was Burbank Bulldogs star quarterback Deshawn Laporte.
While mother nature’s light show was far off in the distance, never truly threatening the action at hand, the threat of Burbank’s junior signal caller was ever present, as Laporte lit up the field like a firework display and put constant pressure on the opposing defense, leading the Bulldogs to a decisive 52-9 victory over the Galena Grizzlies.
It took four minutes and change for the Bulldogs to shake off the stiffness from the eight-hour drive north to Reno. The offense sputtered, with Laporte finishing the first drive just 1-of-6 for 23 yards and a sack, while the defense surrendered an eight-play, 53-yard Galena scoring drive capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Grizzly quarterback Wyatt Lace. When the Grizzlies missed the extra point, however, and the score stayed at 6-0, that’s when the storm touched down.
Laporte lead the Burbank offense up and down the field at will, engineering five-straight touchdown drives and finishing the first half 14-of-23 for 290 yards and five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing).
As if things couldn’t get better for Burbank, special teams got involved with a 48-yard field goal as time expired. The Bulldogs, down 6-0 early, outscored the Grizzlies 38-3 in the first half.
The opening of the second half somewhat mirrored the first, with the Burbank offense coming out flat and giving Galena optimal field position and a ray of hope, but that hope was quickly
snatched away.
Galena fumbled the ball away and senior cornerback Noah May-Vaughn returned it all the way back to the opponent’s 32-yard line.
Laporte quickly threw his fifth touchdown pass of the night, then threw his sixth on the following drive, and the route was safely secured.
Laporte’s final stat line was a gaudy 22-of-37 for 431 yards and seven total touchdowns (six passing, one rushing), and his three main wide receivers were key in breaking big plays open and keeping the Galena defense on its backfoot all night.
Junior Tyler Hudson lead all receivers with eight catches for 177 yards and added two touchdowns, while seniors Exodus Freeman (five
catches, 140 yards, two touchdowns) and Elijah Pendleton (five catches, 73 yards, two touchdowns) also made big plays.
The Burbank defense, which bent early after giving up the early score, sprang back into form and suffocated the Galena offense before it could get in any kind of rhythm. Besides a few choppy moments, it was a complete team domination.
Burbank (2-1) has a bye next week. The Bulldogs will then travel to La Crescenta on September 19 to take on the Crescenta Valley Falcons
(2-0). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
