November 21, 2015, 05:00 AM By Terry Bernal Daily Journal
Burlingame almost pulled off a miracle comeback.
Almost.
But the No. 4-seeded Panthers — who had given up 30 or more points just once all season — saw their season end with a 30-28 loss to No. 5 Riordan in the Central Coast Section Open Division III playoff opener Friday at Umland Stadium.
Burlingame trailed 24-14 at the half, but managed to find a tempo and keep pace with an explosive Riordan offense in the second half. The Panthers twice closed it to a one-possession game, but never led in the half.
“If we could have snuck this out, I feel like there would have been no stopping us,” Burlingame head coach John Philpopoulos said.
The Panthers scored the game’s final touchdown with 9:04 remaining in regulation on a 15-yard touchdown run by Laipeli Palu. Then the Burlingame defense made a three-and-out stop to give quarterback Cameron Kelaita and Co. the ball back less than two minutes later. Despite their final possession lasting nearly four minutes, the Panthers only netted 5 yards on the drive. They ultimately punted on fourth-and-18, never to regain possession again.
The bread-and-butter Burlingame run game had its hands full with the West Catholic Athletic League powerhouse defense of Riordan. Palu fought for 59 yards on 17 carries, while senior Joevani Garcia rushed for a team-high 60 yards on seven carries.
“They’ve got a pretty stout seven or eight up front, so we weren’t expecting to come out and march,” Philipopoulos said. “But as the game went on, we were able to make some things happen.”
Burlingame established its passing game early though, making for an exciting opening drive that saw the Panthers jump out to a 7-0 lead. Kelaita completed a pair of third-down passes to senior wide receiver Cooper Gindraux; first for a 50-yard strike to move into the red zone, then on a 16-yard touchdown pass.
Gindraux — who totaled seven catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns — made a slick move to get to the TD pass, which was underthrown into 1-on-1 coverage in the front corner of the end zone. But Gindraux read it immediately, stopped on a dime to pivot around the Riordan cornerback, and came up with the grab.
“At his position, he’s as good as anyone who has come out of here in the last 15 years,” Philipopoulos said.
But Riordan countered with the dynamic ground attack, paced by senior tailback Jason Greene’s game-high 147 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. After the Crusaders advanced the ball into Burlingame territory, Greene broke runs of 15, 16 and 2 yards, the final one a TD run; he then pounded in a two-point conversion run to give Riordan an 8-7 lead.
Riordan got the ball back on a three-and-out and upped its lead. Quarterback Jacky Luavasa opened the drive with a 26-yard pass to Cedric McAfee. Then Greene steadied the ground attack with runs of 7, 13, 2 and 3 yards, capped by a scoring run. Riordan again opted for the two-point conversion, with Luavasa scoring on the keeper to give the Crusaders a 16-7 lead.
Burlingame stayed got within striking distance with a meaty eight-play, 80-yard drive, highlighted by another third-down conversion when, on third-and-15, Kelaita hit Gindraux for a 19-yard completion. After Palu rambled off tackle for a 17-yard gain, Kelaita hit Gindraux on a timing pattern up the left side for a TD, closing Riordan’s lead to 16-14.
But then the explosive Riordan offense turned to its deep repertoire of plays. Burlingame tried to catch Riordan napping with an onside kick, but the Crusaders recovered at their own 49. Then on the first play of the following drive, Luavasa ran a flea-flicker to perfection with a 51-yard touchdown pass to McAfee; Luavasa, of course, capped the score with a two-point conversion keeper to give Riordan a comfortable 24-14 lead at the half.
“We had no clue that was coming,” Burlingame defensive lineman Andrew Friedberg said. “Since it caught us off guard, it was like a slap in the face. It woke us up and were aware of it after that.”
After each team turned the ball over once in the third quarter, Burlingame caught a big break on a botched punt play by Riordan. Punting from inside its own 20, the punt snap was low, causing Riordan’s punter to touch a knee to the ground after gathering it, causing the play to be whistled down at the Riordan 6-yard line, and the ball turned over on downs.
Burlingame cashed in on the following play, with Palu dancing into the end zone on a 6-yard sweep to close the lead to 24-21.
It took Riordan three plays to re-up, with Greene rushing for gains of 46, 3 and 2 to improve the lead to 30-21.
But Burlingame battled its way back downfield to score on an 11-play, 55-yard drive — including two fourth-down conversions — to score its final touchdown on the last positive carry of Palu’s Burlingame career, closing the score to 30-28.
“I think we’re a second-half team,” Friedberg said. “We went in (at halftime) and talked about what we could do better.”
But after each team punted, giving the Crusaders the ball at their own 14 with 3:29 remaining, they were able to run out the clock. After Riordan moved to the Burlingame 40, the Panthers came up with three clutch stops to force fourth-and-4. But with 1:21 remaining, and Burlingame out of timeouts, Greene put the game away with a 9-yard run for a first down.
“That last fourth-and-6, [our offensive line] showed they’re big boys,” Riordan head coach Kevin Fordon said. “And when we need 5 or 6 yards, we’re going to go to them.”
With the win, Riordan advances to the Open Division III semifinals next Friday at Rabobank Standium to face top-seed Palma.
Palma downed Aragon Friday 45-24
No. 6 Sacred Heart Prep advanced through the Open Division III bracket with a 42-21 win over No. 3 Live Oak. The Gators rushed for five touchdowns — three by Isoa Moimoi and two by Lapitu Mahoni — and SHP gained 270 total yards.
The Gators advance to next Friday’s semifinal to take on No. 2 Monte Vista Christian, at Monte Vista, after No. 7 Terra Nova fell to the No. 2 seed 34-27.
In the Open Division I, No. 4 Menlo-Atherton fell to No. 5 San Benito 21-19.
In Division V action, No. 2
Half Moon Bay topped San Lorenzo Valley 47-34 and
No. 1 Pacific Grove defeated No. 8 Capuchino 17-13.
