Burroughs football can’t keep up with high-octane Cathedral

LOS ANGELES — Mike Reily’s tenure as the head coach of the Burroughs High football team started in a tough way Friday night.

The Indians had the unenviable task of taking on Cathedral, the third-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division III, in their season opener.

Cathedral showed off its plethora of talent, scoring the game’s first 30 points in just more than a quarter en route to a 51-7 nonleague home victory.

“We had no misconceptions about Cathedral,” Reily said. “We knew they were very athletic, very athletically gifted. We knew it was going to be a big battle, but we didn’t want to shy away from that. You don’t want to start the season losing like this, but it provides a good measuring stick of what we want to be and what we need to do to get to that point.”

The Phantoms, who feature four players who have committed to Pac-12 schools, had five first-half touchdowns, four of which were culminated by drives that took less than two minutes.

Cathedral wide receiver Jamire Calvin - who has 30-plus offers to Division I schools, according to Reily - had four of those touchdown receptions in the opening half. Two of those touchdown passes were thrown by freshman quarterback Bryce Young. Calvin finished with eight receptions for 181 yards and added a spectacular 74-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter to provide the final score.

“They have great athletes at just about every position,” Reily said. “It definitely created a challenge for us. We have some good athletes also, but they’re definitely loaded.”

The Indians’ offense stalled early against a strong and fast opponent. Burroughs, which is ranked fifth in Division VIII, ran a total of 12 plays in its first four possessions and totaled 98 yards in the opening half to Cathedral’s 311. Burroughs finished with 139 total yards.

Chance Bell, Burroughs’ standout running back, got the Indians on the scoreboard after he took a screen pass from Hayden Zepeda and raced down the left sideline for a 49-yard score to cut Cathedral’s lead to 30-7. Zepeda was four of 12 for 71 yards.

Bell, who is headed to San Diego State, received the second-half kickoff and took a helmet to his right knee. He limped off the field with help from coaches and did not return.

“It’s a deep tissue bruise on the top of my knee,” said Bell, who rushed 10 times for 38 yards. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be back next week.”