BURLINGAME, CA - The West Catholic Athletic League continued to be Burlingame’s playoff nemesis.
On Friday night the visiting Riordan Crusaders continued their resurgent season with a 30-28 victory over the Panthers to advance to the semifinals of the CCS Open Division III playoffs. The loss ended Burlingame’s season, and it was the fourth time in five years that a WCAL team eliminated the Panthers.
The game was still in doubt until the final minutes, when Riordan got the ball following a punt on its own 14 with 3:29 left and a two-point lead. The Crusaders were able to run out the clock, ending the game when Jason Greene converted a fourth-and-four from the Panthers’ 34 with just over a minute remaining. Greene led Riordan with 14 carries for 123 yards and three touchdowns on the night.
“I feel real good about the effort,” Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos said. “The kids played their hearts out, came up a little bit short.”
Early in the game it seemed as if it might be a shootout. Burlingame took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards down the field in six plays. A 50-yard catch-and-run from Cameron Kelaita to Cooper Gindraux put the Panthers in the red zone, and they capitalized another Kelaita pass to Gindraux in the corner of the end zone from 16 yards out, and Burlingame had a 7-0 lead.
Riordan, however, came right back. The Crusaders orchestrated a seven-play, 58-yard drive, scoring on a three-yard run by Greene. Greene also cashed in the two-point conversion, and Riordan led 8-7.
“When we give up something, the momentum shifts, and we’ve got to take it right back,” Riordan head coach Kevin Fordon said. “When it comes down to it, you’ve got to be able to answer back.”
The Crusaders added to their lead a short time later following a Burlingame punt. Greene capped an eight-play, 59-yard march with a seven-yard score, and quarterback Jacky Luavasa ran in for the two-point conversion to give Riordan a 16-7 lead.
Burlingame, though, which also showed incredible resiliency all night long, responded with another touchdown of its own early in the second quarter. Kelaita hooked up with Gindraux again for the score on a deep pass along the left sideline from 28 yards out.
Kelaita completed 13 of 20 passes for 174 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Gindraux had seven catches for 134 yards and two scores.
But after the Panthers failed to recover their onside kick, one of three they attempted on the night, it took Riordan just one play to score again. On a flea-flicker, Luavasa threw deep to a wide-open Joshua Boone, who ran in for a 51-yard touchdown and a 24-14 Crusader lead thanks to another two-point conversion.
“It’s a thing that we’ve done all year,” Fordon said of the two-point conversions. “We like to put the pressure on, and that was the difference in the game.”
The Panthers caught a break late in the third quarter, when Riordan’s punter’s knee touched the ground as he handled the snap, therefore marking him down. Burlingame took over at the Crusaders’ five-yard line, and on the very next play, Barry Palu took a jet sweep around the left side for a score to put the Panthers within 24-21.
Riordan again came right back thanks to Greene. He ripped off a 56-yard gain on the Crusaders’ first play from scrimmage on their next drive, and two plays later he scored from three yards out, and following a failed two-point attempt, the Crusaders led 30-21.
But there truly is no quit in the Panthers. Burlingame converted two fourth downs on the ensuing possession, and from Riordan’s 14, Palu burst through the middle and found the end zone. Palu carried 21 times for 89 yards and two scores.
Burlingame then forced the Crusaders to punt, but could not get anything going on what would prove to be its final drive. On fourth-and-19 from their own 39, the Panthers punted back to Riordan with three and a half minutes left and would never get the ball back.
“Had it not been [fourth-and-19], I thought, our defense has played well all year, let’s put the ball in their hands and see what happens, and we came up this short,” Philipopoulos said.
With the victory, Riordan (8-3 overall) advances to the CCS semifinals against top-seeded Palma, which defeated Aragon Friday night in the opening round. Burlingame, which was a co-champion of the PAL Bay division, finishes its season at 9-2.
