Drive time
By Dan Agnew
Signal Staff Writer
Lengthy march in second half leads Saugus over Burroughs
Saugus running back Chris Wolford (21) barrels over players on a two-point conversion attempt on Friday at Cougar Stadium.
Saugus got all it could handle against John Burroughs High School of Burbank Friday night at Cougar Stadium, but the Centurions hung on for the victory.
It took a 9-minute, 25 second scoring drive that started late in the third quarter for Saugus to come out on top 26-20. The drive was capped off with a 3-yard play-action touchdown pass to sophomore Denley Rodriguez with a little less than three minutes left in the game. The pass – delivered by junior quarterback Jared Carbajal – was only his sixth pass attempt.
“I knew it would work,” Carbajal said of the game-winning play. “I knew they would bite on that run.”
He finished the game 5-of-6 passing for 36 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Most of Saugus’ production came from the legs of Carbajal, however, as he tallied 132 rushing yards on 18 carries.
The offense worked with a steady dose of quarterback keepers and handoffs to senior running back Aaron Kellogg and junior back Michael Visser. The three of them had to take the place of highly anticipated junior Tyler Watt, who watched the game in street clothes from the sideline. Watt sprained his knee last week in practice.
Things didn’t start well for the short-handed Centurions. Carbajal threw an interception on his second pass attempt of the game, which came directly after a Burroughs scoring drive that put Saugus in an early 7-0 hole.
“I was most impressed with their ability to bounce back from a little bit of adversity,” said Saugus head coach Jason Bornn.
Things started to work offensively for Saugus as the game wore on, but Burroughs stayed in the game with the help of a 69-yard touchdown pass delivered by senior quarterback Lucas Yanez in the closing seconds of the first half. Yanez went 9-for-14 with 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Both teams took advantage of numerous unsportsmanlike penalties and mistakes throughout, none more than in the third quarter when senior Saugus center Tyler Peacock was ejected from the game after throwing a low blow to a Burroughs player.
A few plays later, Saugus’ replacement center snapped the ball over the head of James Weiner on a punt attempt. Weiner eventually recovered the ball and got off a short punt, which set up the Indians’ scoring drive that tied the game at 20 apiece.
“The penalties were a big problem,” Bornn said. “That’s something we’ll really have to work on.”
Burroughs head coach Keith Knoop called the game, which served as both teams’ season-opener, a physical one. He was happy to get his team the experience against a Foothill League opponent.
“Saugus was much more physical than we thought, but we know Saugus. We know they play hard,” he said.
