Indians’ trying day ends poorly

It was a bad situation that translated into a horrendous start and,

ultimately, dissipated into a dreadful showing.

After dealing with fires, a scheduling change and even taekwondo

hassles, the Burroughs High football team couldn’t deal with host

Chaminade, falling in dismal fashion, 41-0, in Saturday night’s

nonleague contest at Chaminade High.

“I told the kids they need to get through the adversity and come

out and play. They weren’t able to,” said Indians’ Coach Keith Knoop,

who watched his team fall to 2-2 after incurring an unfavorable set

of events surrounding the week-four contest.

Due to fires and unsafe air conditions near Chaminade, the game,

originally scheduled for Friday, was postponed until Saturday.

On Saturday, the circus-like atmosphere, which featured a fire in

Burbank, as well as a taekwondo event at Burroughs High that resulted

in some of the Indian players arriving late -- because at least one

player couldn’t find parking at his own school -- was an odd preamble

to a lackluster effort.

“Our main goal with these guys is you can’t come out flat. They’re

becoming adults pretty soon and they need to realize they have a job

to do,” said Knoop, who just a week earlier saw his squad narrowly

edged by St. Francis -- the second-ranked team in CIF Southern

Section Division III -- by three points. “They need to learn how to

separate other things in life from this.”

That clearly didn’t happen on Saturday.

Chaminade (3-1) scored on all four of its first-half possessions,

building a 24-0 halftime edge, while the Indians struggled to gain

just 60 total yards and three first downs in the span.

In all, Burroughs had 116 total yards, as the offense struggled in

every facet.

Standout running back Thomas Kyle was bottled up to the tune of 48

yards in 16 carries -- 25 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter

against Eagle reserves. Quarterback Tony Banuelos, Jr., returning

after a week’s hiatus due to a knee injury, went just five of 18 for

41 yards.

Chaminade, which lost a squeaker, 14-13, to Burroughs last season,

proved to be far too worthy an adversary for the Indians to have an

off-night.

“They were faster than us,” Knoop said. “Tonight, they were more

physical than us.”

Leading the faster and more physical charge was Eagle quarterback

Kyle Thompson. Thompson snuck in two one-yard keepers for a 14-0

first-quarter lead and also tossed 43- and 16-yard scoring strikes.

He finished with 21 yards in seven carries and 167 yards on 10-of-15

passing.

In the second half, the Burroughs defense did wake up, highlighted

by two Joe Wiggen sacks and a David Endler interception. But the

Indians’ offense remained in slumber, as Chaminade forced all three

Burroughs turnovers in the half and also blocked a punt to put the

game far out of reach and start the clock running.

The Indians will look to rebound with their final nonleague game

of the year when they travel to face a winless Crescenta Valley at

7p.m. Friday at Memorial Field.

Burroughs begins Foothill League play Oct. 14 in a home game

against defending champion Valencia.