BURLINGAME, Calif. — If there was any doubt the Burlingame Panthers would extend their Little Big Game winning streak to 11 years, it was erased in the blink of an eye.
The Panthers scored three touchdowns in the final two minutes of the second quarter to take control of their 93rd meeting with archrival San Mateo and used that scoring frenzy to roll to a 49-14 victory.
Tied 7-7 early the second quarter after a pair of turnovers, the Panthers started at their own 12 and marched down the field over the next eight-and-a-half minutes. A 31-yard completion from Wyatt McGovern to Charlie Koch on fourth down set up a three-yard Isaac Frankel touchdown run for the lead.
Wanting to strike back before halftime, the Bearcats reached into their bag of tricks and tried a wide receiver pass, but McGovern, lined up in the secondary, sniffed it out perfectly and picked it off at midfield, returning it 28 yards.
“We had seen it on film and figured that they would set up something like that at the end of the half,” said McGovern, who’ll be golfing at Columbia next year. “When they threw the rocket toss to the side and I saw that nobody was really coming upfield, we were ready for it.”
Rather than go on another methodical drive to close the half, Burlingame (3-3) needed just one play to strike again. McGovern connected with a streaking Koch, who caught his first career touchdown as a sophomore in the 2019 edition of the rivalry, for a 22-yard score.
“Wyatt’s passing game was phenomenal,” Koch said. “He can read those safeties and those corners and put the ball where he wants.”
After the kickoff, the Panther defense would produce yet another turnover. Unlike the last one, they wouldn’t even need to send the offense back on the field to score as San Mateo (0-6) fumbled a toss play that linebacker Nick Cilia scooped up at the 22 and took to the end zone for the third Panther touchdown in 73 seconds.
The offense continued humming for Burlingame early in the second half, finding success through the air. Typically a team that likes to ground and pound the ball, the Panthers, missing two of their top three running backs with injuries to Elijah La Guardia and Kyle Sieben and facing a Bearcat defense with Soane Kolokihakaufisi leading a strong interior line, decided to throw far more than usual.
McGovern completed 13-of-15 passes for a career-high 208 yards and three touchdowns, with Jackson Giovara hauling in six passes for 118 yards as both made the most of their final high school game. A 38-yard touchdown from McGovern to Lou Breuning on the fourth play of the second half made it 35-7, and after Prax Ramirez recovered a fumbled handoff, backup quarterback Ryan Kall connected with Giovara on a 14-yard score.
Giovara also caught the game’s opening score, a 55-yard strike from McGovern after a holding penalty set Burlingame up with an unenviable first-and-23.
“We knew we had the advantage outside, and when things didn’t go our way up the middle, we knew we could get it to Jackson on the outside,” McGovern said. “Jackson blossomed into one of the best wide receivers in the league. They were playing a lot of soft coverage and we were able to take advantage of that.”
San Mateo answered back on a touchdown with three seconds left in the first quarter on a fourth-and-15 as sophomore quarterback Giancarlo Selvitella found Noah Rodriguez, who bobbled the ball before hauling it in, in the end zone for a 21-yard score. Momentum clearly sat with the Bearcats at the start of the second quarter after a Kolokihakaufisi fumble recovery, but they went three-and-out, setting the Panthers up for their 88-yard drive that transformed the game.
At that point, the visitors were actually plus-2 in the turnover margin, with a Connor Moriarty interception setting them up at their own 47 and leading to the Selvitella-to-Rodriguez touchdown. They’d finish minus-1, with the McGovern interception and Cilia scoop-and-score evening it up before halftime and the Ramirez recovery in the third tipping the scales for Burlingame.
The Bearcats would find the end zone in the fourth as Torryn Tulloch, son of College of San Mateo head coach Tim Tulloch, scored from nine yards out after he had posted a gain of 44 earlier in the drive.
“I think we’ve found his spot,” head coach Jeff Scheller said of Tulloch, an undersized back with blistering speed who gained 60 yards on just four carries.
Burlingame’s reserves and JV callups would respond with their own 69-yard drive, capped off by a two-yard Joey Nawrocki touchdown run for the final score of the night, a touchdown that gave the Panthers their highest single-game scoring output in the nearly century-long rivalry.
Giovara and Koch (2 catches, 53 yards) were responsible for just over half of Burlingame’s offensive yardage on the night as the Panthers outgained San Mateo 335-183. Lucas Castillo had 11 carries for 63 yards, fighting through bumps and bruises to stay on the field even with the lopsided score.
“They’re just resilient,” Scheller said of his senior class. “I’m getting a little emotional about that.”
While the Bearcats could never find a win in the abbreviated season, the Panthers avoided a similar fate despite dropping their first three games.
“After those losses, we looked at our remaining schedule as a three-game season,” Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos said after improving to 17-2 against San Mateo. “It’s not often you get to end your season on a win. Here was an opportunity to do that and bring all the energy and vibes into our offseason.”
