Burbank football racks up Pacific League honors
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A season that included plenty of growth, surprises and a few setbacks includes awards for the Burbank High and Burroughs football programs.
The Bulldogs and Indians picked up their share of All-Pacific League accolades.
CIF Southern Section semifinalist Burbank enjoyed a banner year as it won the program’s first Pacific League title since 2009, advanced to the CIF semifinals for a second straight year and finishing with a 10-3 record.
Burbank’s playoff run came despite moving up from Division VIII to Division VII, while the league crown happened a year after the squad graduated over 20 seniors.
“This program has set high expectations to compete for league and CIF titles,” Burbank alumnus and first-year coach Adam Colman said. “With everything that happened, I guess you could have said that 6-4 would have been respectable.
“What these kids did was amazing and a testament to their hard work.”
The league honored Colman for his efforts after taking over for Richard Broussard by naming him the coach of the year as Burbank finished with five major awards.
Junior quarterback Matthew Porras and senior linebacker/receiver Drew Pendleton were voted co-Pacific League Players of the Year.
Porras stepped into the starting role and the junior completed 191 of 307 passes (62%) for 2,696 yards and 30 touchdowns, both league highs, versus nine interceptions.The crafty runner also rushed 136 times for 501 yards and four touchdowns.
According to Colman, Porras set program records in most passing yards per season, passing touchdowns and completion percentages.
“It means a lot to me and I have to give thanks to my entire team, my line, my receivers, my backs, everyone and my coaches,” Porras said. “This season was just about hard work and about making an impact. Nobody believed in us, but we fought and we got better each week.”
Porras’ biggest target was the play-making Pendleton, who was stellar on offense and defense.
Pendleton hauled in 64 receptions for 1,097 yards, both league highs, and nine touchdowns, while he finished with 10 total offensive touchdowns.
The linebacker also tallied 113 tackles, second-best in the league, three sacks and one interception
“I’ve grown exceptionally close to Drew and he’s that kid that puts in all that work,” Colman said. “He’s just a workaholic and came up with big plays over and over, against Crescenta Valley, South Hills and Muir. We don’t win those games without big plays from him.”
Burbank junior tight end/defensive end Duncan Smith was selected the league’s co-offensive player of the year along with Arcadia receiver Rolandiss Whitener.
Smith finished with 55 receptions for 774 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdowns, while leading the team with 26 pancake blocks.
On defense, Smith tallied 60 tackles, 16 for a loss, eight sacks and two caused fumbles.
“Duncan is another stud on this team,” Colman said. “He’s another freak in the weight room and did you see those pancake blocks? He was second on the team in receptions and yards and was second to [Anthony] Lira. He did everything.”
Speaking of Lira, the senior defensive end was named the league’s co-lineman of the year with Crescenta Valley’s Destin Jordan.
Lira finished with 10 sacks, which is second-best in league, along with 74 tackles and 17 pancake blocks.
“With all those guys graduating, there was a void that opened up,” Colman said. “He was a guy who played since his freshman year and was a running back then. His power and speed made him a tough guy to block at all times and he brought excellent leadership qualities.”
Colman has six additional players on the first team, leading with offensive skill selection Darnell Williams.
The senior running back carried 206 times for 980 yards (4.8 yards per carry) with 10 rushing touchdowns.
“He’s a grinder and as a coach, he’s a player I love because he shows he was willing to do whatever for the team, whether that’s lead blocking on jet sweeps, picking up blitzes or even being a decoy,” Colman said. “He just put his head down and went to work.”
Burbank junior Esper Alsayegh merited a first-team offensive line selection, while junior defensive end Karo Koshkaryan picked up a first-team defensive line pick.
“Esper is a kid who works and I mean that he works hard here and for his parents,” Colman said. “He has to balance work with school with football and sometimes I tell him, you’re a kid, man, you shouldn’t be so busy.”
Koshkaryan tallied 33 tackles, with five quarterback hurries and one sack.
“He didn’t get the attention and credit he deserved this season,” Colman said. “He would split double teams and other guys would pick up the stats and credit. I’m happy he picked up this honor.”
Linebacker Blake Quinteros and defensive back Erik Harutyunyan were also tabbed league first-team selections.
Quinteros finished with 59 tackles, 10 for a loss, four sacks, two fumble recoveries and one blocked punt. On offense, the fullback rushed 17 times for 40 yards and one touchdown, while he caught five passes for 50 yards and a score.
“Leadership far and away was his biggest attribute,” Colman said. “He was the heart and soul of the team and missed a lot of time with injuries. He filled in last year for Andy Reyes and hasn’t looked back.”
Harutyunyan finished with 33 tackles, two interceptions and 17 passes defended in the secondary. On offense, the receiver caught 32 passes for 427 yards and five touchdowns.
“With Erik, it starts with his intelligence,” Colman said. “He’s one of the smartest kids around. He’s a 4.6 student and I never have to tell him to do the same thing twice. He has great technique and never makes the same false step.”
Colman’s last first-team selection was senior Andrew Rovira at punter.
Rovira averaged 32.9 yards per punt over 30 attempts with 10 punts that landed inside the 20. Rovira also converted seven of 10 field goals and 43 of 49 extra-point tries.
“He wanted to be great and worked at it,”Colman said. “He takes pride in his 48-yarder against Muir. That was maybe a season-saver for us.”
Burroughs finished 4-5 this past season with one cancellation along with a 3-4 mark in the Pacific League for fifth place.
Burroughs coach Mike Reily’s squad nabbed two first-team selections in offensive skill player Ben Peters and offensive lineman Ryan Bernal.
Peters, a senior, rushed 222 times in nine games for 1,531 yards with 14 touchdowns, having scored at least one touchdown in seven games, while crossing the 100-yard mark threshold in eight contests.
“Ben’s one of those kids who was a real workhorse for us,” Reily said. “Overall, his total was only in nine games because our first game against West Ranch was canceled because of the fire. He was the go-to guy on this team and he worked hard in practice.”
As for Bernal, the offensive lineman follows in a long line of talented products from Burroughs.
“Ryan dedicated himself and busted his butt in the weight room, not just in the offseason, but during the winter and summer and came on strong,” Reily said. “He’s a kid who made incredible strides and improvement from last year to this year.”
Reily also landed senior kicker Jonathan Rivas, junior linebacker Thomas Wilson (77 tackles, 10 1/2 for a loss and nine hurries) and senior defensive back Evan Osegueda (52 tackles, four for a loss, three interceptions and nine tipped balls) on the league second team.
Colman earned three second-team selections in junior running back Chadz Vang (69 carries for 508 yards and five rushing touchdowns and 27 catches for 287 yards and three scores), sophomore offensive lineman Armando De La Cruz and senior defensive back Louie Torres (26 tackles and a league-best five interceptions).
Burbank also received two honorable mentions in junior offensive lineman Kris Azizkhani (nine pancake blocks) and senior safety/wide receiver Christian Fajardo (108 tackles, three sacks).
Burroughs also merited two honorable mentions in senior wide receiver/free safety Cerain Baker (33 tackles, 14 hurries and 37 receptions for 600 yards and eight touchdowns) and junior Daniel Gonzalez (41 tackles, four hurries).
Twitter: @campadresports
