Claremont High Blanks Burbank, 28-0

Claremont High School wide receiver Travis Watkins scored three touchdowns, two on passes from quarterback Dan McGwire, as Claremont beat Burbank, 28-0, Thursday night at Citrus College.

McGwire, 6-8 and 220 pounds, completed 12 of 26 passes for 191 yards as Claremont, the Times’ fifth-ranked Southern Section team, picked up where it left off last year, when it went 14-0 and won the Eastern Conference title.

“I’m happy with the win but not real pleased with the overall play of the team,” Claremont Coach Bob Baiz said. “We were kind of sloppy.”

Neither team could get much going in the first half until Claremont took possession of the ball with 4:50 remaining at its own 30-yard line.

The Wolfpack then drove 70 yards in five plays and scored on McGwire’s 18-yard pass to Watkins.

Burbank’s only real threat of the game came on the first play after the ensuing kickoff when tailback Frank Valdivia raced down the sideline for an apparent 80-yard touchdown. But the referee ruled that Valdivia had stepped out of bounds after gaining 21 yards.

Claremont dominated the rest of the game, taking advantage of two Burbank turnovers and turning them into scoring drives.

The first came after Bobby Warren intercepted a Sal Velasco pass at the Burbank 40 with 7:23 left in the third quarter.

McGwire drove Claremont to the 22, and Watkins capped the drive when he ran eight yards on a reverse for a touchdown.

Claremont scored again with 3:06 left in the third quarter when McGwire hit Watkins with a 12-yard pass to cap a 33-yard, two-play drive.

Claremont’s final score came with 11:03 left in the game when running back David Swartz ran the ball in from nine yards out to cap a 52-yard, six-play drive that began after Brian Kelly intercepted a Velasco pass.

“They’re a good football team, but they’re beatable,” Burbank Coach Dave Carson said. “We just didn’t have the firepower to keep up with them.”