1 week Ago
PASADENA — Eight weeks ago, Pasadena football lost its 13th consecutive game and the first three to start the season. With 14 points through the first three games, the Bulldogs were on pace for a second straight losing season. But Pasadena assistant coach Dejuan Shamburger and the rest of the coaching staff’s belief never waivered as the Bulldogs secured their sixth win in nine games and advanced to the CIF-SS Division 13 semifinals, defeating San Marino 22-16 Friday night.
“All these weeks ago, we thought this was possible,” Shamburger said of Friday’s semifinal-clinching win. “We started coming together as a unit after the Burroughs game and they didn’t lay down. They fought.
” Pasadena will face Lynwood in next week’s semifinal at home after the Knights defeated El Monte 44-37. Friday’s CIF-SS Division 13 quarterfinal became a tale of two halves after the Bulldogs (6-6) built up a 22-point lead with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter, quickly seeing their offensive production stifle in the final 20 minutes. The Titans responded with a run of their own, scoring on its first two drives of the second half.
Before the Titans’ second-half run, San Marino (6-6) was kept scoreless and held to 107 yards of total offense in the first half. San Marino quarterback Brady Beck flipped a switch and kept the Titans’ playoff hopes alive. San Marino broke the deadlock with a 9-yard touchdown by Beck, capping off a 10-play drive.
On the next offensive series, the Titans drove 78 yards before Beck found wide receiver Hunter Piccinini for a 14-yard touchdown, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to nine points after an unsuccessful fake point-after-touchdown attempt with 11:41 left in the fourth quarter. The Titans rally fell short on the final drive after Beck marched his offense 64 yards in 55 seconds. Beck’s final attempt at the end zone sailed over his receiver’s head.
Brady finished with 180 yards through the air, 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns. “[Beck] is a fighter. He doesn’t quit and will fight anyone,” San Marino head football coach Richard Nila said of his quarterback’s resilience.
“I think he outplayed everyone on the field. He’s just amazing.” Pasadena’s fast start — two scores on their first two drives —compensated for much of the lackluster play in the second half.
Bulldogs senior running back Josiah Ruckers opened with a 29-yard touchdown run, capping off a five-play, 55-yard drive. Related Articles On the following drive, the Bulldogs relied on their playmakers to double their lead. Burbidge found Solis-Lumar over the middle for an intermediate completion before the senior wideout cut back and made a few Titans defenders miss before taking it to the end zone for a 63-yard score.
The Bulldogs took a 15-0 lead into halftime before going up 22-0 early in the third quarter with a 9-yard touchdown by Burbidge, his second of the game. Ruckers, who finished with 115 yards on 14 carries, set up the scoring drive with runs of 12, nine and 33 yards. The 22-point cushion proved enough as the Bulldogs held off the Titans to clinch its first semifinal appearance in five seasons.
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