Long Gains by Hubbell Lift Burroughs, 22-21

All of 16 seconds into the first minute of the first quarter of the first game of the year, somebody on the St. Francis sideline offered this cryptic bit of motivation for his teammates: “Come on, guys, this isn’t over yet.”

And, unfortunately, he was accurate.

In his imitation of the Raiders’ Tim Brown, Burroughs wide receiver Steven Hubbell returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Later, a la Ron Brown, he returned a second 98 yards for a score. Then, with 7:20 left, Hubbell caught a 39-yard pass from Marco Arcipreste to set up Burroughs’ go-ahead touchdown in a 22-21 nonconference opener at St. Francis.

Hubbell beat St. Francis defensive back Luis Patino at the three, setting up fullback Kevin Monaco’s three-yard blast up the middle on the next play to give Burroughs the victory.

All Hubbell did was turn a stingy St. Francis defense to rubble. What’s worse, St. Francis nearly pulled out a win but a last-second, 47-yard field goal by Martin Boskovich missed short and to the left.

“I can’t recall playing defense that well and still losing,” St. Francis Coach Terry Terrazone said. “It just goes to show you how important special teams are.”

Special? The Burroughs offense was anything but in the first half as St. Francis took a 21-7 lead. The Indians could not manage a first down until there were only three minutes left in the half--and remember, Burroughs averaged 31 points a game last year.

Yet just as St. Francis seemed poised to bury Burroughs and the effects of Hubbell’s opening touchdown, he struck again.

After St. Francis took a 21-7 lead on a nine-yard pass from Erik Hagge to Peter Morales, Hubbell took the ensuing kickoff and raced virtually unmolested into the end zone. A pass from Phil Kaloustian to Cliff Parker brought the Indians to within 21-15.

“The first one, I though they had me,” Hubbell said. “I was on my way down. On the second one, there was some great blocking and I just followed the rest of the guys.”

After a scoreless third quarter, Hubbell again struck. Burroughs took possession on its own 29 and drove to the St. Francis’ three in just five plays, keyed by Hubbell’s reception on the left sideline.

“At the half we talked about going up the middle with the run and then going outside with the pass,” Arcipreste said. “That’s what we hit Steve with.”

After Monaco’s score, St. Francis managed one last try at stealing the game. The Golden Knights took possession with 1:05 left and drove to the Burroughs’ 31, keyed by a 13-yard pass from Hagge to Matt Smith and a pass-interference call on Burroughs’ Keith Reiter.

With seven seconds left, however, Boskovich missed wide to the left and short as St. Francis was called for illegal procedure, which nullified the play.

“It’s early, and we’re going to make mistakes,” Terrazone said. “But that’s a tough way to go.”

Arcipreste, a senior making his first start, had a tough game, too. His first pass of the season was intercepted by St. Francis linebacker Mike Weisenberg, who returned it 35 yards for a touchdown with 7:55 left in the first quarter, tying the score, 7-7.

It didn’t get much easier for Arcipreste, who fumbled the snap on the first two plays of Burroughs’ next possession.

St. Francis’ defense, which features four returning starters at linebacker, bludgeoned the Burroughs running backs and kept Arcipreste from setting up shop in the pocket.

Arcipreste completed only 3 of 6 passes for 25 yards in the first half.