Burroughs High football game postponed to Saturday
Poor air quality and heat have forced the Burroughs High football team to wait one more day before kicking off its season.
Burroughs was set to meet West Ranch on Friday night in a nonleague game at Memorial Field. Those plans changed after a brush fire in the Verdugo Mountains broke out just after 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Tujunga-Sunland area. Temperatures reached 107 degrees in the Burbank on Friday.
Burroughs second-year coach Mike Reily said the game was reset for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Canyon Country Canyon High in the Santa Clarita Valley.
“It’s been pretty crazy all week long with all of this excessive heat,” Reily said. “I was on campus and I could see the smoke billowing from the fire and the air quality was the biggest factor in not playing. You could see some ash falling here.
“It’s all about safety and it was best to not play [Friday]. [Burroughs assistant principal] Kenny Knoop made the decision to not play around 4 p.m. and we worked with West Ranch concerning other options. The West Ranch officials were great in helping move the game to another place.”
Burroughs finished 4-6 last season. West Ranch, ranked ninth in CIF Southern Section Division IX, began its season Aug. 25 with a 55-7 nonleague win against Simi Valley.
“We’re excited to finally be able to get out there and play a game against a real good team,” Reily said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Burroughs will play its first three games away from Memorial Field. The Indians will be at Royal on Sept. 8 and Diamond Ranch on Sept. 15. Burroughs will be back at Memorial Field for a Pacific League-opening game against Pasadena on Sept. 22.
Twitter:@TCNCharlesRich
