Yanez, Seidler honored in league

BURBANK — It was a Burbank-Burroughs cavalcade of honorees in this year’s all-league football voting.

The Indians and Bulldogs were in the running for the Pacific League championship up until the final game of the regular season. Burroughs went on to share the league crown with Arcadia, and Burbank finished third.

The teams’ impact on the field led to a big all-league haul off of it. The two area teams combined to put 24 (12 for each program) players in the all-league list.

Unfortunately for Bellarmine-Jefferson, an off-year yielded just three all-league awards.

Two of the biggest awards were given to Burroughs senior quarterback Lucas Yanez and Burbank senior linebacker Ryan Seidler. While Yanez was named the offensive player of the year, Seidler earned defensive player-of-the-year accolades.

Indians Coach Keith Knoop said although earning the league’s top offensive award was a fine accomplishment for Yanez; he felt his player deserved a higher honor.

“I think he deserved to be named player of the year,” said Knoop of the honor that was given to Arcadia’s Taylor Lagace. “I think Lucas made his impact in the league and I’m disappointed he didn’t win player of the year.”

Yanez leaves the Burroughs program after putting his emphatic stamp on the record books. This season, he completed 133 of 214 passes (a 62% completion rate) for 1,965 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Along with his threat as a passer, Yanez also proved he could run, carrying the ball 96 times for 523 yards (5.5 yards a carry) and nine touchdowns.

Yanez finished with a distinction that no other player in the history of Burroughs has been able to accomplish. He is No. 3 on the all-time Indians career passing list, as well as being No. 9 on the career rushing list. In his career, he completed 303 of 515 passes for 4,280 yards, 36 touchdowns and an NCAA quarterback rating of 145.1. He also gained 1,481 yards rushing.

“I just wish I had more players like Lucas,” Knoop said. “He has accomplished a great deal in our program. But we knew he was going to be special when we saw him as a freshman out of the Burbank Vikings program.”

Yanez also piloted Burroughs to two consecutive co-league championships.

Seidler proved his worth as a stalwart on defense for Burbank. He led the league with an impressive 151 tackles and averaged nearly 14 a game. In addition, he caused two fumbles and recovered two more.

“To have that many tackles a game shows how much Ryan was flying around the field for us,” Burbank Coach Hector Valencia said. “He was such a big part of our defense and it seemed he was always around the ball.”

Making the all-league first team on offense were Burbank senior quarterback Adam Colman, senior running back Ulisies Ochoa and lineman Spencer Lee. Along with Burroughs senior running back Tadeo Zuniga and senior lineman Rookie Hussakhoon.

Colman completed 129 of 241 passes for 2,066 yards, 19 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

Ochoa carried the ball 180 times for 1,255 (seven yards a carry) and had 18 touchdowns.

Valencia said Ochoa ends his career as the Bulldogs’ all-time leading rusher and scorer, and Colman is No. 2 on the all-time passing list.

Zuniga, who finished his career No. 10 on the career yardage list with 240 carries for 1,530 yards, had 182 carries for 1,241 yards (6.8 yards a carry) and 11 touchdowns.

On the defensive side for Burroughs, senior lineman Nick Brown, senior linebacker Casey Barbello and senior defensive back Matt Volland made the first team.

Barbello led the way on defense, collecting 144 tackles (12 a game), five sacks and recovering two fumbles. Brown had 60 tackles and seven sacks and Volland had an interception and 22 tackles.

Making the second team on offense were Burbank senior wide receiver Ryan Thanarantnam, senior lineman Elias Salgado and Varage Zeneoli, along with and Burroughs senior lineman Steven Escoboza and junior lineman Thomas Liro.

Burroughs senior Garrett Schiavello and junior defensive back Eli Peppmuller, along with Burbank senior defensive back Jose Rodriguez, sophomore lineman Steven Kim and senior linebacker Brian Carrillo, were honored on the second-team defense.

Burroughs senior wide receiver Tyler Yanez and senior linebacker Zack Meijer joined Burbank junior running back Quortney Brazier and senior linebacker Daniel Buencamino as honorable-mention choices.

Burroughs (7-5) won its first CIF Southern Section playoff game in 23 years with a 41-21 first-round playoff victory against El Rancho.

The Indians were defeated in the Southeast Division quarterfinals by Mayfair, 35-27.

Burbank (7-4) lost in the first round of the Southeast Division playoffs to Santa Fe, 28-14.

Bell-Jeff (2-8) finished last in the five-team Santa Fe League. Only senior Macah Shirley and senior lineman Eric Lopez made the first team. Senior wide receiver-cornerback Kevin Yuenyongsakul was a second-team choice.

Shirley was a bright spot for the struggling Guards.

“Micah led the league in rushing, in scoring and in tackles,” said Bell-Jeff Coach Rolando Aguirre, who played Shirley at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and defensive back. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t have a quarterback that could get him the ball. That was really tough for him.”

On offense, Shirley had 119 carries for 1,210 yards (10.2 yards a carry) and seven touchdowns, hauled in 24 passes for 402 yards (16.8 yards a catch) and eight touchdowns and he completed nine of 27 passes for 200 yards and one touchdown. In addition, he scored 92 points. On defense, he had 122 tackles (12.2 a game), four interceptions and recovered two fumbles.