First published in the Oct. 9 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
It was the second Pacific League game for both a pair of Bulldogs football teams — those from Burbank High and Pasadena.
The hosts from BHS were looking to pick up their first league win, and the visitors looked to build on a successful league opening win.
Pasadena never trailed in the contest, although the second half was a real slugfest as Burbank tried to come back before time ran out.
Pasadena won the high-scoring affair, 42-26, Thursday night at Memorial Field.
“[Burbank] came out and played hard. They had nothing to lose,” said Pasadena coach Dejuan Shamburger Sr., who was less than satisfied with his team’s performance. “Everybody is saying we’re the team to beat, so [Burbank] just came and played extremely hard. My hat is off to them. They did a great job. We did a horrible job, a terrible job.”
Pasadena (6-2 overall record, 2-0 in league) held a 16-point advantage at halftime, after which the two teams would literally trade touchdowns throughout the second half.
On the first drive, Burbank had a fourth down and goal to go at the eight-yard line. Burbank (1-6, 0-2) converted by successfully executing an end-around reverse pass as Jonathan Powell took the handoff before handing the ball off to Jagg Richer on the reverse, who, in turn, rolled out to the left before throwing back across into the middle to Jake Ferrat for the score. Richer also caught seven passes for a game-high 136 yards.
Pasadena answered with a 10-play, 81-yard drive, culminating with a 33-yard play-action pass from quarterback Kaden Taylor to Jason Sanford Jr. Burbank’s Brekkan Spens blocked the extra point kick and the score was 30-14.
Burbank came right back with a 69-yard drive. It finished with a one-yard rushing touchdown on a quarterback keeper by Dylan Robinson on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Burbank’s next touchdown drive was an impressive 87 yards. The key play was a Taylor connection with Richer for a 51-yard gain. Following that, Taylor threw a 16-yard touchdown to Giovanni Saenz-Manso. The two-point try failed and Burbank had pulled to within 10 with 5:45 to go.
Pasadena turned the ball over on downs again and Burbank took over 55 yards from paydirt with 2:40 to go. However, the Burbank comeback bid was dealt a fatal blow when Pasadena’s Cameron Mitchell intercepted a pass over the middle.
“I thought they battled; I thought they played hard,” Burbank coach Adam Coleman said of his team. “We gave ourselves opportunities. [Pasadena] is a talented team.”
Defensively, Burbank’s Nick Franco sacked Taylor in the end zone, simultaneously causing a fumble which resulted in a safety.
Burbank later scored on a 44-yard pass from Robinson to Richer. Robinson finished 17 of 29 for 256 yards two touchdowns and three interceptions. The junior also led the hosts in rushing with 24 yards on 13 carries.
