There were few opportunities wasted by the Burbank High football team in its Pacific League game Thursday evening against Glendale.
The Bulldogs opened the contest with an overwhelming offensive outburst and the Nitros seemed powerless to stop them.
Burbank scored eight touchdowns on its nine possessions of the first half to build a big early lead and was able to coast the rest of the way in a 63-7 victory against host Glendale at Moyse Field.
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Burbank’s Forest Fajardo, in the endzone, catches the ball for a touchdown against Glendale’s Benjamin Aba in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Joseph Miller runs forward with Glendale’s Matthew Bejanian hanging onto Manukyan’s undershirt in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Forest Fajardo is underneath a touchdown pass that drops into his arms against Glendale’s Anthony Luna in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Forest Fajardo is wrapped up by Glendale’s Cameron Hoffman but breaks away in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s quarterback Tyler Artavia runs outside on a quarterback keeper against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Carlos Ramos runs inside against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Dominique Dominguez jumps to make a catch against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Anthony Luna makes a catch against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Forest Fajardo battles for yardage against the Glendale defense in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Darnell Williams runs to the endzone to score against Glendale’s Cameron Hoffman in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Forest Fajardo gets outside for a long run down field against Glendale in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Jake Kelley, with teammate blocker Scott Breslin, runs against the Glendale defense in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Cameron Hoffman is tackled on a kickoff return against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s defense swarms Glendale quarterback Tyler Artavia for a sack in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Guy Gibbs drops for a pass against Glendale in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Drew Pendelton is underneath a pass that he catches and runs for a touchdown against Glendale in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Cameron Hoffman cuts on a kickoff return against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s kickoff receiver Cameron Hoffman takes off with one of several kickoff returns against Burbank in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burbank’s Joseph Miller runs with the ball against Glendale in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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The Burbank football team releases from a pregame huddle and runs onto the field for their game against Glendale in a Pacific League football game at Glendale High School on Thursday, September 29, 2016. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
The game was essentially over at halftime when Burbank went into the break with a 56-0 advantage.
“We kind of knew that [Glendale] liked to bounce around on defense and you just can’t play against us like that,” said Burbank Coach Richard Broussard, whose team improved to 3-2, 2-0 in league. “With the kind of pace that we play, I think that makes it hard on them.
“You know what they say that styles make matchups, I just didn’t think their style was going to equate to success against us. So we just tried to come out and exploit that.”
Burbank received a solid performance from senior quarterback Guy Gibbs, who completed seven of nine passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns (29, 54 and 30 yards) — all in the first half. He also scored on a one-yard run. Senior receiver Forest Fajardo had four catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns and Drew Penelton caught a 54-yard touchdown.
In a balanced attack, senior running back Nick Warren carried the ball seven times for 110 yards and two touchdowns, junior Darnell Williams had eight carries for 98 yards and a score and senior Jake Kelley scored a rushing touchdown.
“I thought that we just executed very well on everything and that’s just what happens when you execute like we did,” Gibbs said. “We can open up the passing game and we can open up the running game when we need to. So we kind of go back and forth like a balanced football team.”
While the Bulldogs found success with just about every aspect of their offense in the opening half, the Nitros (1-4, 0-2) struggled mightily with the ball in the first two quarters.
At the half, Glendale had just 37 total yards, 35 coming from passing yardage from senior quarterback Tyler Artavia. The Nitros got past midfield just once in the first half, but a penalty pushed them back into their own territory.
Unfortunately for the Nitros, Artavia got knocked out of the game early in the second half. Backup quarterback Sebastian Gonzalez, a junior, came on in the second half and had some success, completing four of seven passes for 41 yards. The two signal-callers combined for three interceptions.
“We practice against the kind of pace that [Burbank] had tonight, so we should be used to that,” Glendale Coach George Maiale said. “We just got behind ourselves in that first half and we were never able to recover.
“But what I did like is that we came out better in that second half and we were able to do some good things.
The second half was played with a running clock.
Glendale finally got on the board with 3:20 remaining in the game when sophomore Cameron Hoffman returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.
Burbank received a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter from senior Damien Flores.
The Bulldogs received a boost from the return of All-CIF Southern Section linebacker Andrew Reyes, who missed the team’s first four games because of grade issues.
