Burbank High Varsity beats Hoover 48-13

Burbank's Cole Hazlewood and Jackson Diamond celebrate after Hazlewood scored a touchdown against Hoover. (Roger Wilson/The Leader)

Colman leads Burbank to a 48-13 win against Hoover to remain perfect in league play.

By Edgar Melik-Stepanyan, Burbank Leader
Published: Saturday, October 24, 2009

GLENDALE — The Hoover High football team was intent on stopping Burbank’s potent running attack on Friday night. And the Tornadoes did contain the Bulldogs’ ground game. But Burbank has more than just a strong running game. It also has an efficient aerial assault, one that Hoover couldn’t contain. Burbank quarterback Adam Colman picked apart the Tornadoes’ defense for four passing touchdowns — in addition to two rushing scores — in a 48-13 Pacific League victory at Moyse Field.

“They’ve been running the ball wild on everyone,” Tornado Coach Chris Long said. “We tried to stop the running game.”Burbank (6-1, 4-0 in league) had 59 rushing yards in the first half, as the Tornadoes’ original game plan worked. It also had 213 passing yards, as Colman threw all of his scores in the first half, all of which came against a man-to-man defense that put seven or eight defenders in the box.

Burbank’s onslaught started late in the first quarter. Colman connected with Sam Bethany for a 28-yard score to give Burbank a 14-0 lead, as the touchdown came 23 seconds after a Hoover fumble and 47 seconds after his first rushing touchdown. Almost every time Colman touched the ball in the first half, he created havoc, as Burbank ran just 28 plays in the first half for 272 yards, an average of 9.7 yards per play.“When they were trying to stop the run, we knew we had a shot [down field],” Bulldogs Coach Hector Valencia said. “We have guys who have been playing together for years. Guys have been playing together for so long that they know the offense in and out.

”A 29-yard scoring strike to Cole Hazlewood, and 39- and 67-yard receiving touchdowns by Jackson Diamond gave Burbank a 34-6 halftime lead. Hazlewood got behind the Hoover secondary for a wide open score, as did Diamond on his first touchdown. Diamond’s other score came on a deep pass down the right sideline.“The deep ball killed us,” Long said. Colman was 12 of 17 for 262 passing yards. Diamond caught three passes for 107 yards and Bethany had five receptions for 87 yards.

Hoover’s offense struggled against a strong Bulldog defense.The Tornadoes had just 33 total yards in the first half, and finished with 150 yards in 41 plays, an average of 3.7 per play. Quarterback AJ Pule had 71 passing yards and a six-yard touchdown run before walking off with an injury in the fourth quarter. Dymond McRae caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Devaughn Williams late in the fourth quarter when the score was well out of reach and the clock was running.

Said Colman: “We had a few more athletes today.”