Burbank football feels right at home in victory over Glendale
BURBANK – It was a true homecoming for the Burbank High football team in Friday evening’s Pacific League opener.
The Bulldogs enjoyed a rare home game on campus, the first for the program since 2008 and only the second in 70 years, and celebrated that advantage while rolling past visiting Glendale, 59-0.
The triumph is the first on campus this century as the Bulldogs dropped the 2008 contest, 35-0, to Torrance. More importantly for this season, Burbank snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 2-2, a record that Glendale now shares.
“It was a lot of fun [playing at home],” Burbank first-year coach Adam Colman said. “It turned out really well. It’s a lot of preparation and I have to thank the administration, our athletic directors and all the other behind-the-scenes people up front that did the work to make it happen.”
As for the contest, there wasn’t much doubt as the Bulldogs led, 32-0, after one quarter and took a 45-0 advantage into the half.
Burbank won the turnover battle, 4-1, the war for first downs, 25-7, and was away ahead in yardage, 516-78.
Perhaps the biggest advantage came in the trenches, though, as Burbank quarterbacks Matthew Porras and Aram Aranteian had outstanding protection, while Burbank running backs carried for positive yardage on 31 of 34 carries.
On the flip side, Glendale quarterback Van Haslett was under duress all contest while the Nitros only turned in four positive carries in 13 attempts.
Porras enjoyed a banner evening despite being pulled with 3:46 remaining in the second quarter in favor of Aranteian.
Porras completed nine of 10 passes for 158 yards and four touchdowns, with a 37-yard touchdown to Chadz Vang, a 21-yard touchdown to Drew Pendleton, an eight-yard score to Duncan Smith and a 12-yard score to Erik Harutyunyan.
“It was a little frustrating to be taken out early, but it was nice to see the freshman [quarterback] come in and do his job,” Porras said, “but that’s what happens when everyone does their job. The line did great, the backups did great, the running backs, everyone had an all-around good game.”
Senior running back Darnell Williams paced the ground attack with 13 carries for 106 yards and one touchdown, while reserve back Isaac Glover carried nine times for 102 yards and one score.
Perhaps the most impressive touchdown on the ground was a 71-yard reverse from Drew Pendleton – his second touchdown of the game – that came with 25 seconds left in the first half and put Burbank ahead, 45-0.
Blake Quinteros added a three-yard scoring run to account for Burbank’s final offensive score.
On defense, the Bulldogs turned in four interceptions with Louis Torres returning one 35 yards for a touchdown with 11:01 in the fourth that put the home team up, 52-0. The interception was the second for the senior defensive back.
Armen Gurdzhyan and Harutyunyan also added interceptions.
“It was a great getting the interceptions,” Harutyunyan said. “We also work on technique in practice and today the hard work paid off.”
Haslett completed 11 of 31 passes for 91 yards with four interceptions and dealt too frequently with little blocking and receivers running different routes.
Glendale’s highlight came when senior lineman Joel Leon recovered a fumble at the Burbank 10-yard line. Unfortunately for the Nitros, they turned the ball over on downs.
Anthony Luna hauled in four receptions for Glendale for 71 yards.
“The takeaway tonight is that you have to keep playing through no matter what,” Glendale coach George Maiale said. “The second half for us was not about this game but about the rest of the year and it’s time to move on.”
Twitter: @campadresports
