Glendale’s Rucker Runs for 3 Scores in 47-7 Rout

There was no stopping the Glendale High running game Friday night.

Of course, that meant that there was no stopping Pathon Rucker, the Dynamiters’ 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior tailback.

Rucker rushed for three touchdowns and a season-high 179 yards in 22 carries to pace Glendale to a 47-7 nonleague rout over visiting Burbank.

Even the chain crew had trouble keeping up with Rucker, who had touchdown runs of 24, 13 and seven yards and registered an additional five runs longer than 10 yards.

But where Rucker finished, his teammates were just getting started. Perhaps in a preview of things to come, Glendale (4-1) unleashed five other backs against Burbank and rolled up an additional 101 yards rushing.

Fullback Gill Friedman bulled for 39 yards in nine carries. But the real surprises were reserves Shawn Cole and Lan Le.

Le broke a handful of tackles on an 11-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, and Cole, a junior and the heir-apparent to the tailback job, ran for 36 yards and one touchdown in three carries, including non-scoring runs of 18 and 16 yards.

For good measure, quarterback Nathan Callister rushed for 12 yards and two touchdowns in three carries.

Rucker sat out most of the fourth quarter after Glendale had built a 34-7 lead.

“It’s the line,” Rucker said. “They make the blocks. We all have the same speed.”

That is debatable. After overcoming an early season shoulder injury, Rucker appears to have recaptured the fire of last season when he rushed for more than 1,800 yards.

Glendale Coach Don Shoemaker, however, said he can breathe a little easier watching Rucker’s reserves.

“I have confidence in my backups,” Shoemaker said. “As you can see, we have three other guys who can run the ball.”

The game might have been closer had Burbank, trailing, 14-7, been able to succeed on fourth and two from its 36-yard-line late in the second quarter.

But running back Hector Valencia was stacked up at the line, and the Dynamiters closed out the half with two quick touchdowns to increase their lead to 28-7. Rucker slashed 13 yards for one score and Callister scored on a seven-yard bootleg.

The pair gave Glendale a 14-0 first-quarter lead on similar plays. Callister swept eight yards to open the scoring and Rucker followed with a 24-yard run on Glendale’s next possession.

Burbank (3-2) twice sustained drives early in the game by running for a first down on fourth down.

Tailback Alex Dixon’s six-yard run on fourth down early in the second quarter paid off when quarterback Bryon Linville capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive with a seven-yard keeper for a touchdown. That made the score 14-7 and ignited the Burbank crowd.

“That made a difference,” a stone-faced Burbank Coach Randy Stage said.