Schurr Stays Unbeaten as Burbank Falls, 28-27

As Schurr Coach Ken Davis watched his team warm up before Friday night’s Foothill League game with Burbank, he spoke like a man whose team was 0-7 rather than 7-0 and top-ranked in the Coastal Conference.

“I’m worried about this game,” Davis said. “Kids are kids. You can tell them and tell them and tell them to get ready. But let me tell you . We do not look ready.”

There few who were ready or could have guessed that a failed two-point conversion try by Burbank with two seconds left in the game would enable Schurr to win, 28-27, at Memorial Field in Burbank.

Burbank quarterback Sal Velasco had driven the Bulldogs 60 yards in seven plays with just 48 seconds left in the game. Velasco teamed up with Carlos Quinteros on an eight-yard touchdown strike that left Burbank trailing by just one point.

Velasco tried to dump a pass off to Frank Valdivia for the conversion that would have won it, but Schurr linebacker Oscar Chacon tipped the pass to put the ball and the victory out of Valdivia’s reach.

“Sure, we could have gone for a tie,” Burbank Coach Dave Carson said. “But hey, we got down there and scored with a couple seconds left. Our kids deserved the chance to win this thing. We just came up a little short.”

Burbank (0-3, 2-6) had taken a 14-13 halftime lead and upped that lead when Valdivia ran the ball into the endzone with 10:23 left in the game.

Schurr, which had five turnovers in the game, fumbled twice on its next two possessions but then put together two scoring drives with just over five minutes to play.

The go-ahead touchdown was scored with just 1:36 left in the game when Hubert Turner swept around right end for a touchdown that gave Schurr what appeared to be plenty for the victory.

Davis laughed when reminded that his team had won the game and was still undefeated (3-0, 8-0).

“Are you sure?,” he asked while turning to look at the final score. “I want to take another look. Only the scoreboard says we won. We did not come to play tonight.”

Schurr had taken an early lead after the Spartans’ Mike Padilla intercepted Velasco’s first pass attempt of the game and returned it to the Burbank 17-yard line.

Danny Dalziel ran the ball in from the four and Schurr had a 7-0 lead.

On Burbank’s next possession, the Bulldogs were victimized again by an interception as Turner picked off a Velasco pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. It was Turner’s fourth interception of the season and the third time he has run one back for a score. The Schurr conversion kick failed which gave the Spartans a 13-0 lead.