Secondaries Are Looking Up to Adriatico

Burroughs High receiver Glenn Adriatico stands 5 feet 9 and 150 pounds. In pads, he looks even smaller.

But defensive backs are wishing he would pick on somebody else.

Adriatico, a junior who plays flanker, has caught 134 passes in 20 games since he first took the field as an inexperienced 15-year-old last season.

Now Adriatico and quarterback J.K. Scott have led the Indians to an 8-2 record and a second-place finish in the Foothill League. Burroughs will appear in its first playoff game in three years Friday against Dominguez at Dominguez High.

Scott has passed for 2,594 yards and 29 touchdowns. Adriatico is his favorite target with 72 receptions for 1,153 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Only one player has more receptions than Adriatico over the past two seasons: St. Bonaventure’s Pepe Villasenor with 147.

But nobody, including Villasenor, comes close to Adriatico’s 2,066 yards and 21 touchdowns receiving.

“My size doesn’t discourage me,” Adriatico said. “I just go out every week, I get open and J.K. gets me the ball.

“I guess, because of my size, some teams don’t consider me a threat.”

With Adriatico averaging 6.7 catches and 103.3 yards a game the past two seasons, somebody should start paying attention.

Adriatico has a quick first step, runs precise routes and catches everything. He’s not afraid of getting hit or sacrificing his body to complete a play.

When he puts on the uniform, yes, he looks small. But his personality changes.

“I call him Clark Kent because he’s such a normal kid off the field,” Burroughs Coach Robert dos Remedios said. “But you put him in a game uniform, he becomes a beast. Against Burbank [last week], he played at a level that was way higher than anybody else, including [Scott].

“He played cornerback for us and he must have had 13 tackles and he practically knocked two guys out of the game. In all my years of coaching, he’s by far the best pure football player I’ve ever had.”

Dos Remedios would be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated player.

Adriatico carries a 3.8 grade-point average and usually pelts his coach with questions during practices. During the summer, he worked out with Scott daily.

While Scott has received scholarship offers, Adriatico likely will be a repeat choice for The Times’ All-Valley team.

“If I had a son,” dos Remedios said, “that’s who I would want.”