Burbank football is led by Elijah Pendleton in win over Burroughs
BURBANK — Time was no concern for the Burbank football team Friday night.
While Burroughs burned more than eight minutes off the clock on its opening scoring drive of the game, Burbank responded with a one-play scoring drive of its own that took all of 12 seconds.
Elijah Pendleton took a handoff and ran the ball 65 yards for a score, his first of two first-half touchdowns in the game.
Pendleton finished with 101 rushing yards and three catches for 21 yards and three total touchdowns to help lead his team to a 42-21 win over rival Burroughs.
Burbank’s win secured an 8-2 overall record and 6-1 Pacific League record, a second-place finish behind Muir (7-0).
It also meant the return of the Warrior Trophy, an annual award that is earned by the winner of this game.
“When I was watching film, I knew it was going to be my night,” Pendleton said. “This means a lot because they beat us last year. We all worked hard in practice and it worked out.”
The Bulldogs carried the momentum from their opening drive into the second quarter, scoring two more touchdowns in the first half to boost their lead to 20-7.
Quarterback Deshawn Laporte was perfect in the first half, completing all eight of his passing attempts for 80 yards.
The sophomore signal-caller had just one incompletion the entire game, which came at the 8:21 mark of the fourth quarter.
He completed 16 of 17 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns.
Laporte split his touchdown passes to Pendleton and Tyler Hudson, the latter scoring on a 75-yard catch and 37-yard catch.
“It’s a big rivalry game and we hadn’t won it in a minute, so we came together for the win,” Laporte said. “We came here, executed and fought hard. Achieved what we wanted to achieve.”
Burroughs started the game with a well-executed drive that featured running back Matteo Tarca.
The junior ran the ball 11 times for 60 yards and capped off the Bears’ first possession with a 3-yard touchdown.
Tarca finished the game with 190 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.
Burroughs culminates its season with a 6-4 overall record and a 4-3 finish in league play.
Burbank will await the announcement of its first-round playoff opponent after the CIF Southern Section releases postseason brackets this Sunday.
“The expectations were set early. That’s been our philosophy the whole season, that we’re going to the playoffs,” Burbank head coach Hector Valencia said. “Now a new chapter is going to start next week.”