Burroughs stopped by Hart

CANYON COUNTRY — At least the Burroughs High football team has some time to relax now.

After three grueling nonleague games to start out the season — and three losses — the Indians have a bye next week and don’t return to action until Sept. 30 when they open Pacific League play at Pasadena.

Burroughs’ latest setback came Thursday night when they were defeated by Hart, 24-13, at Canyon Country Canyon High.

Burroughs also lost to Saugus to open the season, as well as Canyon Country Canyon last week. All three losses came to Foothill League schools, a league in which Burroughs was once a long-time member.

“We could definitely use the bye week,” Burroughs Coach Keith Knoop said. “It will give us a chance to get some players healthy, get some ineligible players eligible and just give us some time to regroup.”

The Indians also went 0-3 to begin the 2010 season, only to go on to win a share of the Pacific League championship.

“We are looking forward to getting back, but we also need the time off right now,” Knoop said.

Burroughs did its share of things well against Hart (2-1). The team was able to move the ball on some solid drives and the defense also showed signs that it could make stops.

Knoop said his squad definitely played better against Hart than it did a week ago in a 42-14 loss to Canyon.

“I thought that we played pretty well for probably three and three-quarters of the game,” he said. “We just made some mistakes at some key points and that hurt us.

“After last week, we just wanted to get back to playing good football. For the most part, we were able to do that.”

Burroughs had trouble stopping backup Hart running back Tim White, who took over after starter Dylan Edwards was injured last week. White had 14 carries for 249 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown scamper. He also had runs of 36, 44 and 59 yards.

On the other side of the ball, Burroughs’ Zander Anding carried the ball 18 times for 101 yards.

With Hart holding a 17-13 lead with 6:48 left in the game, Burroughs got the ball on its own 30-yard line. After quarterback Eli Peppmuller gained six yards and threw an incomplete pass on consecutive plays, Burroughs faced a third-down-and-four situation at the 36. However, Peppmuller was dropped for an 11-yard loss on the next play, ending the opportunity.

Hart came back to score two plays later at the 4:53 mark when White scampered for the 68-yard score.

Burroughs began the game in fine fashion, as Jose Pererya intercepted a pass on Hart’s opening drive. Burroughs was able to convert that miscue into points, as Peppmuller hit Anding on a six-yard scoring pass for an early 7-0 lead.

However, Hart rattled off the next 17 straight points to take a 17-7 advantage into halftime.

Both teams played to a scoreless stalemate in the third quarter.

Burroughs embarked on its most impressive drive of the night that began late in the third quarter and ended early in the fourth quarter. Using some trick plays and a hurry-up offense, the team went 89 yards in 14 plays, as the scoring drive ended with a four-yard run by Peppmuller.

“We wanted to keep that trick stuff as long as we could,” Knoop said. “We didn’t want to give it away too early. But it worked for the most part.”

Peppmuller had 15 carries for 61 yards and passed for another 90 yards.

Thursday’s game marked the third straight contest that Burroughs has had to play on the road. With renovation still ongoing their home venue of Memorial Field, the Indians are going to have to get used to life on the road, as they will be the visitors in all of their games this season.