Burbank’s running game, defense ground Monrovia
MONROVIA – Behind a bruising ground game and a relentless defense, the Burbank High football team made quite a statement in its season opener Friday evening.
The Bulldogs recovered from an early hiccup to steamroll eight-time reigning Rio Hondo League champion Monrovia, 38-20, in a contest that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.
PHOTOS: Burbank downs Monrovia, 38-20, in season opener
“It was a rough start, but you know, we’ve overcome worse,” said Burbank Coach Richard Brossard, who won his first-ever season opener. “We had a true summer camp that was brutal. We were physical, we were banged up and we came out of that.
“That physicality showed tonight in how we ground them down. That was our goal and that’s what we wanted to do. It was a statement — we’re coming.”
The victory snapped the Wildcats’ nine-game home winning streak and was the worst defeat versus a visiting opponent since St. Francis walloped Monrovia, 48-14, on Oct. 4, 2013.
Burbank carried 43 times for 250 yards and three touchdowns with sophomore Darnell Williams, younger brother of former Burbank star James Williams, leading the way with 114 yards on 12 carries.
“They couldn’t stop us,” Darnell Williams said. “We have a fast, up-tempo offense and they were really tired. We beat them with conditioning.”
The Bulldogs led, 17-6, at halftime and scored the game-winning touchdown on the first possession of the third quarter.
A Burbank 54-yard drive set up with five straight runs culminated with a 28-yard touchdown pass down the middle from quarterback Guy Gibbs (six for 19 for 67 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) to wide receiver Max Weisman with 7:41 left in the third.
The score put the visitors up, 24-6, and was a bright spot for a Bulldogs passing game that had its share of struggles.
Just as it seemed Burbank was comfortably in control, Monrovia connected on a 76-yard bomb from quarterback Asaph Zamora to Aubrey Mosley that brought the Wildcats within 24-13.
Burbank responded with its own big play when lineman Damien Flores blocked a punt that was recovered at the Monrovia 15 with 9:11 left in the fourth.
Two plays later, Gibbs connected again with Weisman (four catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns) for a 15-yard score that put Burbank ahead, 31-13, with 8:24 remaining.
“Guy is a great quarterback, a good kid and he had a tough start,” Weisman said. “We have good chemistry and he showed that in the second half. We have confidence in him.”
Burbank’s icing came one possession later when Nick Warren (17 carries for 62 yards and one touchdown) scored from two yards out to propel the Bulldogs to a 38-13 advantage.
Monrovia did score spectacularly on its next possession on a 95-yard kick return from Jonathan McKee to cut its deficit to 38-20 and cap the game’s scoring.
“They really didn’t do much,” Broussard said. “It was all big plays.”
Burbank recovered in fine fashion in the first half, scoring the final 17 points in taking a 17-6 lead into the half.
The game had an ominous start as the first pass saw Gibbs have his throw deflected and picked off by Mosley, who returned the ball to the Bulldogs’ six-yard line.
On the next play, Zamora (11 for 27 for 180 yards and one touchdown) handed off to Mosley, who punched in a six-yard score. The touchdown gave the home team a 6-0 lead after a botched extra point with 11:36 left in the first quarter.
Despite the bad start, the Bulldogs fought back and took a 7-6 lead on a four-yard touchdown run from junior running back Jake Kelley (13 carries for 61 yards and two scores).
The score, along with the point after, gave Burbank the lead with 1:49 left in the first.
The score was also one of three straight for the Bulldogs.
On its subsequent drive, Burbank added an impressive 42-yard field goal from kicker Andrew Hank to take a 10-6 advantage with 9:27 left in the second quarter.
Burbank then caught a break on Monrovia’s next possession when a high snap on a punt from the Burbank 42 sailed over the punter’s ahead.
While Burbank’s Kelley wasn’t able to track down the fumble, the junior chased Monrovia’s punter to his own four, where the ball was recovered.
Two plays later, Kelley scored from a yard out to give Burbank a 17-6 lead with 6:03 to go.
While Burbank’s offense picked up its intensity after its first two drives, its defense was stout throughout, including holding Monrovia to one for four on fourth-down attempts in the
first half.
One of those stops came from junior linebacker Andy Reyes, who took down Monrovia’s Lawrence Spicer for a loss of six on a fourth and four at the Burbank 39 at 3:30 in the first quarter.
Burbank used the momentum from that stuff to score its first touchdown and never looked back.
“We struggled early, but the defense kept us in the game,” said Reyes, who tallied a sack. “Once the offense came back, we knew we would win.”
Burbank’s defense registered four sacks, two from Jha’rod Horhn, while tackling Zamora six times behind the line of scrimmage.
Monrovia’s ground game was held to 24 yards.