Burbank football proves supremacy over Pasadena in lopsided battle of Bulldogs
BURBANK — Opposing football teams have had trouble keeping up with the Burbank High offense this season.
PHOTOS: Burbank vs. Pasadena football
The Bulldogs run a hurry-up offense and the players run up to the line of scrimmage to try to get plays off within five seconds. That formula has served Burbank well so far.
In a Pacific League game Thursday against Pasadena, the visiting Bulldogs got a taste of just how difficult it is to get set up to try and contain the high octane offensive attack. Burbank ran and passed the ball with equal efficiency and the end result was a 42-7 victory at Memorial Field.
“When we see teams trying to huddle up on defense, it just makes us laugh,” Burbank junior running back James Williams said. “We know at the pace that we go on offense, it’s just going to kill other teams and there’s no way they’re going to be able to catch up with us.
“We try and get up on the ball as fast as we can and we try and get a five-second snap. We run it a lot in practice and I think we have it down pretty well.”
The win for Burbank, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division, keeps it perfect on the year with a 5-0 overall record and a 2-0 showing in the Pacific League.
Along with the quick pace, Burbank has also mixed it up on offense this season. The Bulldogs are passing the ball more under junior quarterback Ryan Meredith and, along with a stable of solid running backs, have a multi-pronged attack.
“You can see we can do a lot of things on offense,” Burbank Coach Hector Valencia said. “We have three good running backs that we can give the ball to and we have a good quarterback who knows how to run our offense. And when we can give Ryan protection he has time to get the ball to a great receiver like Oharjee [Brown].”
Brown had a good game, catching six balls for 63 yards and two touchdowns (two and five yards). Meredith was also solid, completing eight of 11 passes for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Meredith is yet to throw an interception in five games.
“He just can’t be stooped,” Meredith said of Brown, who transferred from Burroughs. “I just have to throw the ball up there and I know he’ll get it. It’s just nice to have someone like that to throw to.”
Not to be overshadowed, a trio of Burbank running backs did their share of damage against Pasadena (0-5, 0-2). Williams led the way, carrying the ball nine times for 105 yards and one touchdown of four yards. Tony Toledo had six carries for 79 yards and a 20-yard touchdown and Joseph Pendleton had eight carries for 132 yards.
While the offense was doing its thing, the Burbank defense also made its presence known, shutting out Pasadena for three quarters. Pasadena was able to avoid the shutout with a touchdown with 6:35 remaining.
Burbank began the scoring on its first possession of the game, as it drove 99 yards and Williams punched it in from four yards out for an early lead with 4:15 remaining.
However, that would be the only points scored in the first quarter
The Bulldogs made it 14-0 with 11:17 left in the second quarter on Toledo’s 20-yard scoring scamper and increased the advantage to 21-0 when Meredith hooked up with Brown for a five-yard score with 3:56 remaining before halftime.
In the second half, Burbank opened with possession and it took only five plays to score when Meredith found Brown deep in the left-corner of the end zone for a two-yard strike.
Burbank made it 35-0 with 6:19 left in the third quarter when Meredith found Dorian Housholder on a 10-yard touchdown.
Burbank completed the scoring with 3:42 left in the game when Roman Acosta found pay dirt on a three-yard run up the middle.
“This was a good win for us because we moved the ball around like we wanted to do,” Valencia said. “And our defense played well.”