By Rick Assad
Daniel Zacariaz is a quarterback by trade and has been for some time. It’s what he knows. It’s what he does.
When sophomore Deshawn Laporte entered the picture in 2024, Zacariaz, who was coming off a season in which he passed for 1,318 yards on 113 of 246 with 11 touchdowns and ran for 142 yards on 43 carries with two scores, was asked to change positions.
For the betterment of the Burbank High football team, the senior switched to wide receiver and the results were a 9-3 record and 6-1 for second place in the Pacific League.
“Switching positions was not something I was completely interested in at the start of summer ball considering I’ve been playing quarterback most of high school,” said Zacariaz, who will attend Glendale Community College and play quarterback and wide receiver, major in business with the intent on transferring to San Diego State University. “But once the season started, I stopped being so close-minded and started to find love in playing wide receiver. The more I would play wide receiver, the more I enjoyed switching positions.”
Just as pitching is a key to a baseball team’s success, so is the quarterback for football.
“The best thing about playing quarterback is being able to be the shot caller. Everyone looks up to you as a big brother and trusts that you will execute the play the way our coaches would approve of. Everyone trusts that you know what’s going on and trust that you won’t let them down,” explained Zacariaz, who had 14 receptions for 232 yards with three scores and nine carries for 49 yards this season. “Playing quarterback and wide receiver are two completely different tasks. The best thing about playing wide receiver is being able to make the big plays. Of course, throwing a 40-plus yard touchdown is fun but being the one to get open and catch that 40-yard touchdown is a different type of feeling.”
The change from field leader to receiver was just one reason the Bulldogs flourished this past season after going 3-7 in 2023.
Burbank won a CIF Southern Section Division IX first-round playoff game 47-42 over Monrovia before losing to Highland 42-28 which snapped a seven-game winning streak.
“Something I learned about myself from the team was that when the coaches need me to do something no matter the cost, I put the self-ego aside and will do whatever they need for us to win,” said Zacariaz, who also completed 23 of 39 attempts for 356 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions in 2024. “We built a strong team, meaning it was right for me to play wide receiver, and I did that with no issue.”
Regardless of what position Zacariaz played, he knew the team would respond to whatever was needed.
“To prepare for every game, I would blast music in my headphones and just think of the game like practice,” he pointed out. “We would practice so hard that the games would feel easy. For big games we would blast music on the speakers and turn up the energy together.”
Tall and rangy at 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds with strong hands is one thing but being able to sense the game is something else.
“My best attributes on the field are knowing the game of football like the back of my hand. Even though I play wide receiver, I’m still able to read the field like a quarterback giving our team the advantage of having two quarterbacks on the field at the same time,” Zacariaz said. “Another two great attributes I have is my versatility and dedication for this game. I’m willing to do whatever it takes for us to win.”
The final regular season game is always against rival Burroughs. That’s more than enough to stir emotions.
“Playing against our rivals is a great feeling. Being able to play our cross-town rivals is a good opportunity to show the city who has the better squad. Them being our cross-town rivals makes you want to work harder,” Zacariaz said. “Whoever is more motivated and ready to play is the team most likely to win. And I felt this year we had all the energy, and they just couldn’t hang with us.”
Zacariaz saw the rivalry game from quarterback and wide receiver with different results.
“A game that stood out to me the most was our Burbank versus Burroughs rival week. This game stood out the most to me because the rival game is the biggest game of everyone’s season. Unfortunately, last season we lost our homecoming game,” he noted. “And losing in front of the whole city isn’t a good feeling. Ever since last year’s loss, we put in work for our rival game to beat the Bears and show out for the city. It also stood out to me because our seniors balled out and showed up against Burroughs. Multiple big defensive and offensive plays from our team. We worked hard for this game, and we showed the work we put in through the off-season.”
In 2024, Burbank defeated Burroughs 42-21 after losing 48-13 the previous year.
The goal is to always win but it’s not likely to be the final result every time. Humility steps into the picture.
“There’s not much I would really change about my high school experience. One thing I would maybe change about my high school experience is winning more games,” Zacariaz said. “But I feel if we would’ve been winning all three years, we wouldn’t want to become better and work harder as a team.”
Team bonding and being around the same guys made playing football at Burbank special and something unforgettable.
“One thing I’ll remember as a Bulldog is the time we went to Hume Lake as a team. Many may think that this was just a team bonding event, but it was bigger than that. It was a big step to a culture change at Burbank,” Zacariaz said. “It forced us to become men in such a short period of time. We learned how to work hard together without any help from the coaches or others. We were forced to bond and work together to get tasks done against other football teams. After Hume Lake we dominated in seven-on-seven all off-season and only losing to Chaminade and Sierra Canyon.”
Win, lose or draw, it’s having played and competed that makes prep sports enjoyable.
“Looking back at my past four years at Burbank High, I’m proud to say I enjoyed my time here with the Bulldogs and I’m pleased with how my four years went,” Zacariaz said. “Even though the first three years we weren’t the greatest team, there’s still good things that come out of teams that lose. I believe losing caused us to build a dog mentality and forced us to work harder on our skills and football knowledge. We became a powerful team that only could lose when we weren’t playing our best game.”
