A swarming defense continually turned back Granit Hill's offense in their Homecoming win (CLICK HERE for photos from the game
Burroughs’ passing game was held in check all night against Granite Hills until the very end of the game.
That’s when Vince Snyder caught a 33-yard pass from Derrick Dison with less than two minutes to play to bring the ball to the Cougars (5-2, 01) two yard line.
Three plays later, Dison punched the ball in from the one on a quarterback keeper to give Burroughs a 14-7 win on Homecoming.
“We needed this, we absolutely needed this,” said BHS coach Matt Gracey.
Burroughs (4-3, 1-1) still survived a last-minute charge from Granite Hills who got the ball back on its own 23.
On two plays, the Cougars drove to the Burroughs 36 and launched a Hail Mary into the end zone.
As bodies went up, the ball bounced around and nearly into the hands of Bryce Quigley. But in the bouncing around of players, the ball fell to the turf, giving Burroughs the victory.
Most of the game was a defensive struggle, as Granite converted an interception in the first quarter, when the Cougars capped off a 30-yard drive with a six-yard pass to Elijah Henderson.
The Cougars picked off Dison three times in the game, but only one resulted in any points.
Meanwhile, the Burroughs defense came up with its first score of the game, when Ron Douglas intercepted James Lavato and ran it back 12 yards to tie the game.
The Burros’ defense came up with three turnovers in all, including Devon Prince recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter that led to the final scoring drive.
Grante was held to 59 total yards in the first half, while the Cougars held a potent BHS offense to 121 total first half yards. Burroughs didn’t break 100 yards passing until the play to Snyder.
Burroughs will next take on Silverado, who was facing Barstow Friday night. Read more in Tuesday’s edition.
In the 1st quarter, the defense stopped Barstow when the visitors faked a field goal from the Burroughs' 12 yard line (FULL SIZE)
As disastrous as Burroughs’ second half was offensively against Barstow, the Burros still had a shot to redeem themselves in overtime.
Despite facing fourth and 30 from the Barstow 31, quarterback Derrick Dison had his best window of the second half to get a pass off, hitting receiver Devon Prince in the hands near the goal line.
The ball, however, so symbolically of Burroughs’ second half, fell to the ground, closing the book on a 28-21 loss in the Desert Sky League opener.
Barstow (5-1, 1-0) had scored with the first possession of overtime when running back Curtis Webb ran two yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Now Burroughs are faced in a similar position it was last year after losing to Barstow. “We’ve got to comeback now. It’s the same road we traveled last year,” said coach Matt Gracey referring to Burroughs running the table against DSL opponents to claim a share of the league title.
For Barstow coach Jose Rubio, he was just pleased to get out of Ridgecrest with a win under his belt. And the way the Desert Sky League is shaping up, this could just be one of many wars en route to the Eastern Division playoffs. “Burroughs is a tough team. The whole league is tough. A game like this, to be the one who goes out on top brings everyone closer together,” Rubio said.
Webb led all rushers with 165 yards on 24 carries. This was the second straight year the senior has had his best game of the season while playing Burroughs. He bested his previous season high by 45 yards, topping his mark of 120 against Hesperia.
Webb scored three of Barstow’s four touchdowns on the night.
It was a scenario that seemed so unlikely after the first half that the Burros’ had. They scored on all three of their possessions. They executed a fake punt on fourth and 12 from their own 36. They kicked three extra points — just the second game Burroughs has made a PAT. Barstow’s leading rusher of the first half got ejected after collecting his second personal foul. And, most importantly, they stymied the Barstow’s power run game and held the Aztecs to just seven points.
Barstow penalties contributed much to the first half, with Sean Silva’s ejection giving Burroughs a first and goal from the 10 after he refused to let Dison back to his feet well after the officials had blown the play dead and gave one last shot to the QB. According to CIF rules, Silva should now be ineligible for Barstow’s game against Silverado this Friday, though Rubio said there was a chance Silva wouldn’t get a one-game suspension.
Dison capitalized with a 10-yard pass to Vince Snyder for Burroughs’ final score of the night, giving the team a 21-7 lead into the break.
Dison threw for two touchdowns, including one to Ron Douglas in the first quarter, and ran one in himself to start the second.
Barstow had a chance to tie the game in the second quarter, when the Aztecs were called for a false start on third and one from the Burroughs’ 9. Barstow managed just one yard on the ensuing play and opted for a fake field goal, but the play resulted in a two-yard loss.
Then, on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, the wheels came off.
While Dison took the ball across midfield and seemed to be on his way to big yards, the ball popped out of his hands and into Barstow’s.
“We just didn’t play in the second half,” Gracey said. “We came out and laid back and, you know, we got the ball and fumbled it on the first play. It really wasn’t even a shot it just popped out of his hands. We’ve got to perform a little bit better.”
The Aztecs converted the turnover into points, driving 61 yards, capped off with a Curtis Webb 15-yard run to pull them within seven.
From there, Burroughs’ offense went flat, possibly aided by a raucous Aztec sideline that gave the Burros trouble calling plays, forcing one of the assistant coaches to hold up a white board for receivers on the weak side to know what was called.
But even then, Burroughs offense already seemed out of sync.
On one play, Gracey gave a hand signal for a play, but the receiver stood confused about what was being called, even after the snap. That forced Dison to scuttle the play and take off on his feet.
All night, when Burroughs started calling short dump offs and screens to protect Dison from rushers who seemingly went unimpeded, receivers were a step behind and players got in each other’s way disrupting the play.
The blitz was so effective, Dison found himself on his back six times for the game, including on a key third down that set up the fourth and long in overtime.
A frustrated Dison was called for intentional grounding as he spiked the ball to avoid his fifth sack of the second half.
Still the defense did what it could to keep the Burros in the game in the second half. With the Burros still leading 21-14, Ron Douglas came up with an interception and brought the ball back to the Barstow 44. But Burroughs’ drive ended with another fake punt that failed as Douglas attempted a pass that fell short. Then with Barstow driving toward the end of the game after having tied the game on a two-yard pass play, the defense stalled the Aztecs inside the Burroughs’ 40 and forced fourth and 5 from the 30.
Shane Lloyd came up with a game-saving sack, giving his team the ball back in its own 36.
But again, the offense went backwards, and was forced to punt from its own 1 yard line.
The defense again forced a three and out with less than 30 seconds to play in regulation when Steven Alva nearly picked off Steven Deverell. Alva had an open field in front of him and would have given Burroughs excellent field position if not scored the game-winning touchdown.
Instead, Burroughs settled for the ball on the 20 following a punt that went into the end zone.
As the game ended, Dison nearly broke an 80-yard run, but was tripped up on his own 44 sending the game into overtime.
Burroughs will now have to regroup and face a resurgent Granite Hills who is coming off a 34-28 win over Apple Valley on Friday. The Cougars are heading into their DSL opener against Burroughs with a 5-1 record, their best start in school history.
October 15, 2009: Burroughs Staduim Burroughs Freshmen come back against Barstow, win 26-21
Jesse Spurgeon intercepts a pass,
ending a Barstow drive in the 1st quarter (CLICK HERE for photos from the game
The freshman Burros came out fast and furious Thursday afternoon, putting up three touchdowns and leading 20-7 half-way through the first quarter.
The lead had shrunk to six points by the half, with Barstow scoring the only points in the second quarter. Things seemed to be unraveling in the third quarter, with turnovers by the offense and a defense that looked like it was back on its heels as the Aztecs slowly marched up the field. Barstow finally took the lead at 21-20 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
It was then that Barstow suffered its own letdown, however, when Jackson French took the ensuing kickoff and raced down the home team's sideline for the touchdown that put the Burros up for good. From that point, the defense stiffened and Barstow was not able to mount another drive for the remainder of the game.
"We got off to a strong start," said Freshman head Coach Jeff French. "I think the kids had a little letdown in the second quarter, and we had a few issues with tackling we'll be addressing during practice next week. I was proud of the way they recovered and stepped it up in the fourth quarter, though. They never got down on themselves, and played through the tough spots. That's what it takes to be a champion."
Vince Snyder takes a 4th quarter kickoff to the house (FULL SIZE)
When the opening play netted just four yards and Burroughs had to punt from its own 24, coach Matt Gracey reassured his players they were just fine.
It’s something he always says in a game when things appear to not be going well. And on the ensuing Hesperia possession, the Scorpions executed a fake punt on fourth and four from the Burros 41.
That led to a 19-yard touchdown pass to San Diego State bound Jay Waddell and an early 6-0 deficit.
The Burroughs players, however, showed they really believed their coach – they were just fine. Burroughs answered with an 80-yard drive with Vince Snyder catching a 64-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Derrick Dison. That was the first of nine touchdowns that led to a 6125 win over the Scorpions to close out the non-league season with a 3-2 record heading into a game against Barstow and Desert Sky League play Friday.
Dison had three passing TDs and two more rushing as he accumulated 216 yards in the air and 99 more on the ground.
Barstow also took down the Scorpions two weeks ago 35-16, but Gracey was quick to say that the differences in the scores meant nothing.
“Barstow is going to be tough,” Gracey said. “I know people are going to be comparing scores, but when we get together with Barstow, you can throw all of that out the window.”
For the first time this season, Burroughs executed throughout the game, until both sides started subbing in their backups in the fourth quarter. “I’m proud of them for just being aggressive. Even when we put our JV guys in there, they were being aggressive,” Gracey said.
After going down 6-0, Burroughs outscored Hesperia 42-0 in a stretch that lasted well into the third quarter.
By the time the Scorpions finally got back on scoreboard with 3:03 to go in the third, Burroughs was up 42-6 and had scored on four of six possessions; one of those, however, was at the end of the first half when Burroughs got the ball with less than a minute left on the Hesperia 5 yard line.
“It shows us if we keep our heads up, we can be unstoppable,” said running back Frank Brown.
Brown finished the game with 72 yards rushing on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Though he didn’t have the yardage he’s had in past games, he made up for it withseveral heads up plays.
The biggest of which came in the third quarter when Dison was running an option play and was being wrapped up on the Hesperia 13. Dison pitched off the ball at the last second to Brown, who had stayed near his quarterback through out, and took the ball the 13 yards for Burroughs’ first score of the second half.
Heads up plays were all over the place for Burroughs, starting after the team was stopped on the Scorpions’ 33 on fourth down.
After two plays that resulted in two yards for Hesperia, Steven Alva intercepted a pass from Ronald Plumlee and ran it back 50 yards to put Burroughs up 36-6.
That was the first of four interceptions in the second half. Hesperia’s next possession also ended with an interception when Devon Prince picked off Plumlee and ran it back inside the Scorpion 15 (a penalty on Burroughs brought the ball back to the 29).
That set up a 29-yard pass play from Dison to Ron Douglas for the final score in the 42-point scoring run.
Douglas finished with 118 yards receiving on just four receptions.
Prince had a second to close out the third and Alva added one more in the fourth.
The defense, mean while, stymied one of the best receivers it will see this year, who still racked up 139 yards and three touchdowns.
Waddell nearly had a fourth at the end of the second quarter, when he made a diving catch on the Burroughs 3 yard line.
But the defense forced a turnover on downs after forcing Hesperia backwards two yards.
Closing out the day was a special teams touchdown from Vince Snyder who took the ball 88 yards on a kick off return in the fourth quarter for Burroughs’ final score of the night.
“Coach Gracey told me to either go out of bounds so I don’t get hurt, or, if I could, take the ball to the house,” Snyder said.
Snyder found a seam along the Burroughs’ sideline and had a host of blockers who kept Scorpion defenders at least five yards off.
Burroughs will kick off a two-game home stand to start DSL play, beginning with No. 5-ranked Barstow Friday at 7 p.m.
October 10, 2009: JV/Frosh Squad demolishes Hesperia
In a game that seemed never in doubt to the gathered faithful, a combined JV/Freshman team dismantled their Hesperia counterpart, 39-8
The Burroughs varsity football team celebrated its second victory at home Friday night with a 26-0 win against Arvin. While neither team sported much of a passing game, most likely due to windy weather conditions, the Burros were able to make their four touchdowns mainly with strong runs up the center of the field. Running back Frank Brown carried the ball for 173 yards, the most in the game, and scored two touchdowns. Teammate Ron Douglas also ran a good game, scoring two touchdowns and the Burros caught a pass for the two point conversion.
Quarterback Derrick Dison played a smart game against the Arvin defense, getting rid of the ball quickly or running before the Arvin defense could penetrate the offensive line. While the defense put significant pressure on Dison to throw, he only gave up a total of 10 yards during the entire game. Dison also threw for 123 yards, though none for a touchdown pass.
Burros’ defense forced Arvin to punt four times and forcing three fumbles, all resulting in turnovers.
As well as giving the ball back to the offense several times, the defense stopped all of Arvin’s runs, letting the Bears gain no more than 24 yards in a play. This tight defense was a major factor in Burros landslide victory, putting major pressure on the Arvin quarterback and several times causing the offense to gain no yardage.
While Burros clearly played a better game, both teams had trouble with penalties. While several false starts were called, 3 calls of unsportsmanlike conduct also occurred, two against Burros and one on Arvin. With another win added to their season, the Burros varsity hold a record of 2-2 and can hopefully carry their momentum through the rest of the
season.
TEHACHAPI — Burroughs had the ball five times in the first quarter against Tehachapi on Friday. Four of those five resulted in a turnover. All four resulted in Warrior touchdowns. In all, the Burros turned the ball over six times in the first half, but some how they managed to hang on.
After falling behind 28-0 as the result of three fumbles and an interception, Burroughs regained its footing in the second quarter sparked by a 60yard touchdown from Derrick Dison. From there, the momentum was on the Burros’ side, answering each of the 28 points by the fourth quarter tying the game on a 14-yard carry by Ron Douglas 33 seconds into the final frame.
That was Douglas’ second score of the night, the first coming on an interception that he took back 90 yards to make it a 28-14 game at the half.
Last week, Douglas had two spectacular tip-toe catches in the end zone against Apple Valley.
Following Friday’s game, Douglas said Burroughs needs to stop taking quarters off if the team is going to start winning games.
“Pretty much play all four quarters besides three or two,” Douglas said. “Play the whole game, that’s it, that’s all we’re going to need to do. We almost came back, but if we did that — played the whole game — it probably would have been different.”
After the game, coach Matt Gracey lavished praise on his receiver/defensive back, along with his quarterback and running back Frank Brown, who together accounted for 326 yards of Burroughs’ 345 on the night.
“Ron Douglas is an absolute beast,” Gracey said. “He does things that people just shouldn’t do. He does things that are just special. You combine that with Derrick who made some special plays. Frank Brown made some special plays. I thought our offensive line did a hellava job.”
But the Warriors responded on the back of Jesse Olofson.
Tehachapi ran 58 plays from scrimmage (not counting two punts and a knee at the end) and of those, 40 were handoffs to Olofson who accounted for 226 of Tehachapi’s 321 yards on the night and three of its six touchdowns. He had more yards in the first half (128) than the rest of the team did for the entire game (95).
Olofson led the charge in the fourth quarter that put the game away.
After Burroughs tied the contest, Olofson took the ball 12 times in two drives, including punching in the final Warrior touchdown with 1:23 to play in the game.
It was the final drive, however, that sank the Burros.
Tehachapi took the lead at the 8:59 mark of the fourth quarter, leaving Burroughs plenty of time to respond and knot up the game a second time. And the Burros had reason to be excited.
In the possession that tied the game, they needed just six plays to go 60 yards. Just one of those plays was for less than five yards and just one other was for less than 10 yards. Burroughs found holes up the middle with Frank Brown and complemented it with the speed and agility of Dison. But after Burroughs fell behind, an initial spurt of success quickly exhausted itself, forcing the team to punt.
The drive was also hampered by a holding call that negated a decent run from Brown and the drive ended twoplays later with the punt.
That was the third costly penalty of the half, the first two leading to the go ahead touchdown from the warriors: First a pass interference call that put the ball on the BHS 29 followed immediately by a face mask that cut the distance to the goal line down by half. Tehachapi’s final drive went for 75 yards on 12 plays, capped off by a three-yard carry by Olofson for a 42-28 lead.
For the second straight week, Burroughs had a late drive that cut the deficit down some, going 65 yards in about a minute to pull within a touchdown on a one-yard pass.
The Burros went for an onside kick that just didn’t get the bounce that it needed and Tehachapi took a knee to end the game.
Gracey said although the loss is disappointing, especially considering Burroughs overcame the disastrous first quarter, Friday was a learning experience that will get the players to contend for a league title against one of the toughest teams in the Eastern Division right now.
“Barstow is the best and most consistent team in the Eastern Division this year. That’s who we’re setting up to play. Last week I thought we won that game, we just didn’t win on the scoreboard. This week, shoot, you cut five minutes out of it and we’re OK. We just got to quit making stupid mistakes.”
Burroughs will return home on Friday to face off against Arvin who is 1-3 after two consecutive blowouts at the hands of Garces (42-13) and South High School (59-13). Read a preview of the game in Friday’s Game Night.
The offensive line gives quarterback Derrick Dison good
protection on a completion to Devon Prince
Big plays and two turnovers spelled trouble for Burroughs in a 29-26 loss at Apple Valley on Friday.
“It is what it is. We need to play better; we need to play more consistent,” said coach Matt Gracey. “That’s been our problem all year, so we’ll continue to work on consistency. We’ve got three more weeks until they start counting.”
The Sun Devils ran just 11 plays from scrimmage in the first half, including a punt, but were the beneficiaries of two big plays and an interception that gave them a 226 lead midway through the second quarter.
In those 11 plays, Apple Valley went 96 yards, 87 coming from running back Daryon Mosley who had a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to finish off a stretch where the Sun Devils scored 22-straight points in less than five minutes.
Mosley started the scoring off at the 11:20 mark of the second quarter on a fouryard run and ended it at the 6:43 mark with his near length of the field run.
In between was an interception thrown by Derrick Dison when his pass was tipped at the line and returned more than 55 yards for a TD.
Later in the fourth quarter, with Burroughs trailing 2220, Apple Valley forced a fumble on what would have been a near 55-yard pass play, giving the Sun Devils the ball on their own 31.
Three plays later, Mosley went off for 57 yards to put the game away. He had three touchdowns on the night, rushing for 158 yards on 14 carries.
But Burroughs gave itself some chances and didn’t let Apple Valley run away with the game.
After giving up the three quick scores, the Burros went on a 12-play, 85-yard drive capped off by a Vince Snyder three-yard touchdown run. Burroughs was helped, however, by two Apple Valley personal fouls and a pass interference penalty. Both personal fouls came at the end of first down runs that tacked an additional 30 yards to the Burros’ drive.
With little more than a minute to play, Burroughs sent Dison in on defense — which the team will do to enhance its pass defense. He came through intercepting Justin Brookshire and returning it to the Sun Devils’ 32.
After a touchdown pass to Snyder was called back on a holding penalty, Dison connected with Ron Douglas in the back of the end zone as time expired in the first half. Dison, forced to scramble from an oncoming rush, lofted the ball over the heads of everyone, but Douglas managed to leap and grab the ball, all the while making sure his toes were in bounds to cut the deficit to 22-20.
He hit Douglas again on another toe-dragging play as time ran out in the game, but with the Burros down by nine, the touchdown didn’t affect the game.
Dison finished the game, throwing 11-22 for 227 yards and three touchdowns.
And what Dison didn’t accomplish in the air, he and running back Frank Brown took care of on the ground.
Brown gobbled up 107 yards rushing on 22 carries, while Dison racked up 109 yards on 17 carries.
While Dison used his quickness to get around the defense, Brown simply asserted himself, often dragging three or four players to get extra yards.
“Big Frank and the O line did a helleva job. We were just a little bit off,” Gracey said. “We ran the ball well, but if we could have done a little bit better in the passing game to compliment it, it would have been great.”
Burroughs will need to recover quickly as it takes on two-time defending Central Section Division III champion Tehachapi on the road on Friday. Last year, the game ended on a dramatic touchdown return to put Burroughs up by two points.
The Burros should expect Tehachapi to want to avenge the loss from last year on the Warriors’ home turf.
Three Burros make sure Highland's receiver makes little headway
Though the defense faltered, it did not break. Burroughs’ defense made two big fourth quarter stands against Highland to preserve a 20-13 victory in the 2009 s e a s o n opener.
Needing a touchdown
to
tie, Highl
a n d marched down to the Burroughs’ fiveyard-
line, but got no further. A penalty backed Highland up to the 15
and Burroughs’ defense forced
three straight incompletion,
including one on fourth down
where Highland was called
for a pass interference. The
play resulted in a loss of down
and gave Burroughs the ball
on its own 30.
After a three and out, Highland
got the ball back on its
39, but the drive ended in a
three-yard loss.
The Burros did all their damage in the second quarter
on the feet of quarterback
Derrick Dison.
Dison ran for three touchdowns
in the second quarter,
starting with a 10-yard scamper after he dropped the snap and recovered for a 6-0 score eight seconds into the start of the quarter. He followed that up on the next drive
when he
executed a
fake hand
off to Frank Brown who had
half of Highland tackle him as
Dison jogged into the endzone.
Dison capped things off with 5:13 to go in the half when he broke several tackles
up the middle for a 36-yard
TD run.
He finished the night with
118 yards on the ground and
117 yards passing with one interception.
(CLICK HERE for photos from the game)
(CLICK HERE for Stats from the game, or use the MaxPreps wigit below)
The Robert G. Kelly Memorial Award
(Awarded Annually since 1949)
The Robert G. Kelly Award is given for the purpose of honoring Robert G. Kelly, a graduating Senior of the Sherman E. Burroughs High School Class of 1948 who died in an automobile accident during senior activities week prior to graduation. Receiving this award is considered the highest honor that a Burroughs player can achieve. Each year, the head football coach, athletic director, principal, student body president and senior class president choose a recipient from the finalists selected by the players. Recipients are judged based on the following criteria :
Scholastic Attitude - Nominees are expected to have maintained a high GPA throughout their high school academic career.
Citizenship - Nominees are viewed based on a combination of involvement with school and community organizations, volunteer service within the community, and/or involvement within their religious affiliations.
Sportsmanship - Kelly Award nominees are expected to exemplify sportsmanship, coachability, and leadership.
Value to the Team - A Robert G. Kelly Award nominee must have made a BIG impact on the field.
The following is a list of young men who, since 1949, have exemplified the ideals listed above; young men who have shown sportsmanship, citizenship, leadership, scholastic ability, and an overwhelming football prowess while wearing the Green, Black and White of the Sherman E. Burroughs Burros:
