Burroughs’ Piper has record-setting performance against Glendale
GLENDALE — It was a performance the likes of which has never been seen in the annals of Burroughs High football.
Quarterback Nathan Piper cemented himself as the most prolific passer in a single game Thursday evening for the Indians.
His record-setting performance, however, came at the expense of Glendale.
The junior signal-caller threw for 430 yards and four touchdowns to carry Burroughs to an 81-14 Pacific League victory against the Nitros at Moyse Field.
The mark broke the previous Burroughs single-game record of 418 yards set by JK Scott in 1996 in a playoff game against Dominguez.
Piper peppered Glendale (2-4, 0-3 in league) with an array of short, high-percentage passes.
“I did feel very comfortable back there today; I knew my line was going to have me and I didn’t get touched all game,” said Piper, who completed 28 of 32 passes with no interceptions and threw for 410 yards in the first half alone. “My line giving me the time I need really boosts my confidence because I’m able to sit back there a little longer, make my reads and deliver the ball where I need to.”
Piper’s main target was senior Cerain Baker, who had 11 catches for 102 yards and touchdowns of 19, 60 and 26 yards. The other touchdown catch was a 37-yarder by senior David Lennstrom.
“It was a concentration and a focus to work on our passing game in this game,” said Burroughs coach Mike Reily, whose team improved to 3-2, 2-1 in league. “We wanted to come out and do that in the first half and I thought that we did a good job at doing that.
“We wanted to get some good protection from our offensive line and we wanted to have some easy decision-making for Nathan with his passes and get the ball to our athletes and that’s exactly what we did.”
Piper also scored on a one-yard run.
Burroughs also had success on the ground, with senior running back Ben Peters rushing for 114 yards in nine carries for touchdowns of four, 16, 15 and 55 yards. The Indians also received touchdown runs of six and 15 yards from junior Andrew English.
“We are just trying to get better at the little things,” Glendale coach George Maiale said. “I’m very happy with the fact that we didn’t give up even when we were down by a lot in the second half and the kids were able to battle back and score two touchdowns.
“At times, we were in the right positions and at times we were doing the right things, but just not enough times.”
With Piper igniting the Burroughs offense, it scored on its first four possessions to take a 28-0 lead. Its defense held the Nitros to minus-three yards of total offense in the opening stanza.
The Indians made good on three of four possessions in the second quarter and went into the half with a 49-0 advantage.
Burroughs increased its lead to 55-0 before the Nitros finally broke through with 6:42 left in the third quarter. Sophomore quarterback Van Haslett (11 of 24 for 88 yards and two touchdowns) hooked up with junior Trent Lousararian on a 10-yard scoring pass.
The two also combined for a four-yard strike with 33 seconds remaining in the third to cut the deficit to 55-14.
Lousararian had seven catches for 43 yards and senior running back Nate Huiza had 21 carries for 53 yards.
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