Bulldogs suffer letdown

The play, which wasn’t designed, backfired during the game’s most

crucial juncture.

No whistles blew and 10 Burbank High football players began

walking back to the line of scrimmage. Bad decision.

Burbank yielded two fourth-quarter touchdowns -- including one off

a lateral pass that was returned for a score -- that resulted in a

frustrating 30-20 nonleague home loss to Chaminade at Memorial Field

on Friday night.

On the most critical play for Burbank, senior quarterback Jason

Barbic led the Bulldogs (1-1) toward midfield, but threw a lateral

pass that Chaminade senior defensive back Derrick Quals scooped up

and returned 44 yards to give the Eagles (1-1) a 30-20 lead with 4:19

remaining.

Burbank didn’t know how to react after the ball eluded wide

receiver Jason McNeil.

“I thought it was tipped from where I was standing,” Burbank Coach

Greg Sobiech said. “But it’s too difficult to tell.

“It wasn’t a lateral by design. It was a quick bench [with the

ball arriving to McNeil near the line of scrimmage], but I’m upset

that the kids quit on the play when the whistle hadn’t yet blown.

“We were going to either tie or win the game.”

Barbic, who completed 14 of 25 passes for 229 yards, recalled the

play.

“I thought I threw a forward pass, and then I turned away,” Barbic

said. “The next thing I know is that the guy is running.

“We made some mental mistakes with things like that and fumbles

and on special teams. We need to practice hard and fix them.”

Chaminade and Burbank rode big waves of momentum throughout the

second and third quarters, but the Eagles got a 50-yard touchdown

pass from quarterback Kyle Thompson to wide receiver Peter Ma to give

Chaminade a 23-20 lead with 10:18 left.

The Bulldogs, who dropped a 31-24 road decision to Chaminade last

season, had the momentum in the third quarter. On the opening kickoff

of the second half, Burbank’s Chuck Sweetan recovered a fumble by

Derron Juarez in the end zone on a squib kick to cut Chaminade’s lead

to 16-14.

The Bulldogs grabbed a 20-16 advantage on a 1-yard run by Marcus

Hood midway through the third quarter.

“There’s no question that the game had so many momentum swings,”

Sobiech said. “We are a different team from last year, and we can

compete when we are all on the same page.”

In the second quarter, McNeil caught a 70-yard pass from Barbic to

knot the score at 7, but Juarez took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards to

give the Eagles a 13-7 lead. McNeil caught seven passes for a

game-high 141 yards.

Burbank finished with 310 yards of total offense, including 55

yards rushing by Hood.