BREAKING NEWS: Falcons take down Burbank for second-straight league win.

With a new spread offense in tow, Crescenta Valley has been just getting by for the past couple weeks. They narrowly edged out Burroughs last week on the strength of a touchdown in the final 33 seconds of the game

Though the Falcons struggled at the start tonight in their matchup against Burbank, the boys in blue came out strong in the second half and defeated the Bulldogs, 20-12, for their second straight league win.

The game started off slow. The Falcon offense could not get anywhere; two straight possessions ended in punting and gave Burbank extremely good field position in Falcon territory. At first, the Bulldogs seemed to be having the same kind of night, missing a field goal attempt on their first possession and turning the ball over on an interception in the next one.

When the second quarter came, everything changed. Burbank recovered a fumbled punt and suddenly Burbank had momentum along with great field position. Crescenta Valley paid for this mistake. Not soon after, Burbank’s senior running back Nate Galles ends up in the end zone with 7:30 to go in the half, and suddenly the score board shone 6-0 in favor of the Bulldogs. Luckily, however, the Falcon’s defense was able to stop the two point conversion. The Bulldogs tacked on three more points at the end of an unproductive first half with a 26-yard field goal, making the score at halftime 9-0.

Whatever was done at halftime for adjustments, it worked. Crescenta Valley came out with a new attitude, stopping Burbank on the Bulldog’s first drive. With the ball back, the Falcon’s determinedly marched their way down field, and with 5:48 to go in the third quarter, they ended their scoring drought with a one-yard touchdown run coming from junior running back Harrison Pessy, 9-7.Crescenta Valley put up another score on the board when the man who led the defense all night, senior outside linebacker Andrew Carcich, returned an interception for a 36-yard touchdown run with 4:17 left to go in the third quarter. Even though Crescenta Valley failed to gain a two point conversion, the Falcons had finally gotten the lead, 13-9, and they wouldn’t give it up.

Burbank then tried to take their last stand with 9.1 seconds left to go in the third. However, their drive ended in a field goal, leaving the score at the end of the third quarter still in favor of the Falcons, 13-12. Senior Falcon quarterback Karson Reedy then stepped up at the beginning of the fourth quarter, showing why he was starting quarterback. He connected with Bako for a 74 yard touchdown, increasing the Falcon lead to 20-12. The score remained that way until the end.
“Our defense always plays hard. We wanted to prove ourselves to everyone, and I think we came out and did just that,” said Carcich.
The Falcon defense shined. Carcich’s two interceptions and senior inside linebacker Brian Casey’s one added to the Falcon’s momentum and drive. Senior inside lineback Ryan Eberhart’s sack with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter finally shut Burbank down for good. Other great defensive plays came from junior defensive tackle Sam Campbell, who had a couple of sacs and around 5 tackles.
“I played this game for my teammates. After all the effort they’ve put in to everything, they deserved me giving 100 percent out on there on the field. I felt like I did a great job of doing that,” said Campbell.
On the offensive end, Pessy and Bako both had solid games, connection with Reedy on multiple occasions. Sophomore receiver Dai Dai McFadden ran well also, with a huge near 50 yard punt return in the beginning of the second quarter.
As the game ended, assistant coach Greg Pierce summed it up nicely: “We started this game off slow, and then game together and rallied in the second half. That’s all I have to say.