BURLINGAME, CA – The Burlingame players knew it was over more than a minute before the final seconds melted off the clock.
Archbishop Riordan’s Jason Greene bolted over right tackle for nine yards and a first down and there was nothing the Panthers could do to stop the clock in their 30-28 playoff loss to the Crusaders.
The defeat and end to their season stung like salt in a fresh wound as Burlingame defensive players like Laipeli Palu bent over at the waist already mourning the end to their season.
It didn’t matter that minutes earlier the Panthers had given Riordan a huge scare, taking over possession at their own 33 down two points with just over seven minutes left. But following an aborted Burlingame drive and two first downs by Riordan it was over. Dream dashed.
Palu, eyes already moist by game’s end, filed into the back of the Panther line of players to shake hands with the Crusaders. He had played gallantly on defense and got the tough yards on offense, powering for 92 yards on 23 carries and scoring two touchdowns. Riordan’s stars knew No. 8 all right and gave him love, supplying hugs and kind words. It was a nice show of sportsmanship by Riordan, but of little consolation to Palu.
“I know all of those (Riordan) guys,” Palu said after a long post-game address from Panther coach John Philipopoulos. “I played Pop Warner against them with the West Bay Rams. They were on the San Francisco Warriors. Later I played with the Warriors. It was weird seeing them on the other side of the field.”
Asked if he was surprised Burlingame came so close against the favored Crusaders, Palu said: “I’m not surprised. We should have won the game, except for one or two big plays.”
Few thought it would be this close, not against a team that had defeated long-time peninsula power Serra 66-45 and had stars all over the field. Jacky Luavasa, Raymone Sanders, Aidan Verba-Hamilton, Greene – and that’s just on offense. Riordan is loaded, a team that gave West Catholic Athletic League co-champs Bellarmine College Prep and St. Francis all it could handle.
Burlingame was tri-champs of the PAL-Bay, but so what? Surely it wouldn’t be able to keep pace with this all-boys Catholic school juggernaut, was the popular opinion.
“We knew at the start we could play with them,” said big Burlingame senior lineman Bassell Mufarreh who is also a basketball star. “There was a lot of stuff on social media about how they were going to kick our butts and we knew if they came out with that mindset that we could win.”
Except that they didn’t. When Burlingame got the ball back with 7:18 left, 63 yards from a monumental upset, it managed to gain just five yards against Riordan’s stout defense.
Despite the setback, Burlingame fans descended upon the field to console the red-clad Panthers and congratulate them on a tremendous season. One of the heroes was star Panther receiver and cornerback Cooper Gindraux who bedeviled Riordan early with two touchdown catches.
“Our preparation was the best it’s been all year,” Gindraux said. “We had a sense of urgency because a lot of people counted us out. We had really good camaraderie on this team. I’ve been playing with Barry (Palu) on varsity since sophomore year.”
It was evident from Philipopoulos’ post-game address to players he was mightily proud. He spoke of the commitment the seniors had to each other, how hard they worked and never let up and how the younger players needed to emulate them.
Philipopoulos has coached a section champion at the leafy, suburban public school and come close to winning it all on other occasions, but you could tell he was never more proud of a team than this one.
“What I’ll remember about this team is their fight and their determination and loyalty,” he said. “Losing stinks but what hurts most is losing this team and not being able to watch film this weekend or practice Monday. I’m going to miss these kids.”
John Murphy is the Web Content Manager for Prep2Prep. Contact him at jmurphy@prep2prep.com and follow him on Twitter @PrepCat
