Burbank 35, Harlandale 21
Quick take: Burbank junior quarterback Kevin Hernandez completed 15 of 28 passes for 284 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 35-21 victory over Harlandale on Thursday night in a District 14-5A-II matchup at SAISD Sports Complex.
Hernandez led the Bulldogs (7-1, 6-1) to three straight touchdown drives to beat the Indians (5-3, 5-2) for the big district win.
“We’ve been waiting for this the whole season,” Hernandez said. “This is the game I’ve been praying for. I’m happy we played well in the first half, but we could’ve picked it up in the second half.”
Highlights: Trailing 14-7, Burbank started its fourth possession on its 8-yard line. On a designed run, Hernandez left the field after a hard hit, causing him to leave the game. After returning to the field a couple of plays later, Hernandez found sophomore receiver Leo Lozano for a 63-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
“I knew how important this game was for the No. 2 seed,” Hernandez said. “Big players have to make big plays.”
Hernandez led two more scoring drives for the Bulldogs before halftime, both ending in passing
touchdowns.
The quarterback found junior receiver Izzy Zapata in the end zone for a 5-yard score. On the next drive, Hernandez rolled out to his left to try to find a receiver in the end zone. With no one open, Hernandez turned and ran toward the right sideline, where he reconnected with
Zapata for a 4-yard score.
Hernandez knew the importance of taking a lead into halftime.
“It was very important,” Hernandez said. “Everybody knew what the expectation was and what we needed to do. We came out here, we did it the first half. The second half, we could’ve done better.”
On the opening series of the third quarter, Hernandez took a deep shot to an open Lozano for a 64-yard touchdown.
What it means:
Entering Thursday, both teams suffered their lone district loss to Alamo Heights. Now with the win, Burbank jumps to the second seed in the
standings with two weeks left in the season.
Harlandale slips to third, ahead of 4-2 Sam Houston since the Indians beat the Hurricanes 38-20 on Sept. 14.
With such a tight playoff race with two weeks to go, Burbank coach Mike Mull wants to see his program take it one day at a time.
Quotable: “We are still building our culture. It’s win Monday,” Mull said. “Win the next day, win the next moment, and just keep doing that every day. As long as I’m the head coach here, that’s how we’ll handle things.”
Game balls: Hernandez finished with 284 yards on 15 of 28 passing and five passing touchdowns, three of which were over 50 yards. Hernandez also had 22 carries for 76 yards.
Up next: Harlandale will face Jefferson at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at Alamo Stadium. Burbank will face Edison at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at Alamo Stadium.