Burlingame buries Overfelt; will face Carlmont for CCS DIV title

The day of the week, the opponent and the venue were different, but the result was the same for the Bulingame football team.

The Panthers jumped out to a 22-0 first-quarter lead and dominated the rest of the way as No. 2 Burlingame buried No. 3 Overfelt 49-12 Friday night in Burlingame to punch its ticket to the Central Coast Section Division IV championship game next week.

“All throughout practice, out coaches are telling us to keep hitting them,” said Burlingame’s Lucas Meredith, who rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.

“Hit them early, hit them hard and keep hitting them,” Meredith said.

Burlingame advances to their first CCS championship game since beating Seaside on the last play of the game to win the 2004 Small School title.

Burlingame will face a familiar foe in the finals. The Panthers, the PAL Ocean Division champion, will take on Peninsula Athletic League rival and Lake Division champ Carlmont as the No. 5 Scots pulled off the upset of CCS with a 28-21 over top-seeded and previously undefeated Independence.

The time and date of the game have yet to be determined.

Last Saturday in Watsonville, Burlingame (10-2) used a power running game and stifling defense to beat No. 6 Mountain View, 45-7.

Six days later, the Panthers used a similar blueprint to overwhelm Overfelt (9-3). Burlingame rushed for more than 300 yards for the second playoff game in row, finishing with 317 against the Royals. Defensively, the Panthers allowed 285, including 143 yards rushing to Ulysses Alvarado. But the Royals had only 132 yards at halftime. They hit on two big scoring plays — an 80-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and 59-yard run in the third.

But Burlingame forced four Overfelt turnovers and turned one of those into a touchdown return.

“Our interior ‘D’ has been the strength,” said Burlingame linebacker Noah Lavulo, who had one of two Panthers interceptions and recorded his team’s only sack

“Now that the cornerbacks and DBs have stepped, we’re even better.”

Add in another first-quarter, three-touchdown performance for the second week in a row and it equals a second straight dominant performance.

“Pretty much (a carbon copy of last week),” said Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos. “One of our biggest strengths is we’re fast starters. It allows you to loosen up.”

Overfelt picked up a first down on the first drive of the game before the Burlingame defense stiffened and the Royals punted.

Devon Malashus set the tone for the Panthers when he fielded the punt at his own 22 and moved into Royals territory with a 30-yard return to the Overfelt 48.

Malashus would go on to have his best game as a running back, carrying the ball six times for 109 yards.

On the next play, it was 7-0 Burlingame. Curtis Lauti took a handoff, went through a gaping hole over the left side, got excellent downfield blocking and patiently picked his way to a 48-yard touchdown burst.

Lauti finished the game with 90 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just four carries.

The Royals went three-and-out on their next possession and this time, the Panthers needed four plays to find pay dirt. Meredith and Malashus had runs of 20 and 18 yards on back-to-back carries down to the 2 before Meredith burrowed his way into the end zone. Meredith capped the score with a run for a 2-point conversion and Burlingame was up 15-0 with 6:26 left in the first.

Another eight plays later, it was 22-0. The Royals ran three plays and punted and Burlingame scored on the fourth play of the drive again. This time it was Meredith who went 23 yards untouched for third touchdown of the quarter.

Overfelt got on the scoreboard on its next drive when a Ulysses Reyes pass slipped through the hands on the Burlingame defender into the arms of Austin Payne, who scampered 80 yards for a score.

The Panthers answered right back with their third straight, four-play drive. Malashus had a run of 34 yards to the Overfelt 34 on the third play and Lauti went over a huge hole on the left side and went 35 yards untouched for a 29-6 lead with less than a minute left in opening quarter.

Lavulo all but ended any hopes of a Royals comeback when he punctuated the first half with a 42-yard interception return for a score with just under four minutes left in the half and a 36-6 advantage.

“I knew that formation from studying film. They only run inside screen out of that formation,” Lavulo said. “I saw a lot of green (ahead of me after intercepting the ball).”

Burlingame opened the second half with its longest drive of the game, going 75 yards on seven plays. Malashus’ 44-yard run put the Panthers in the red zone and Meredith ended the drive two plays later with a 10-yard scoring run to make 43-6.

And just put the icing on the cake, Yucef Benchohra ended the scoring for Burlingame with an 82-yard scoring run with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

Overfelt scored on an Alvarado 59-yard run late in the third and it was a running clock in the fourth.

“We have the heart to win,” Meredith said. “We all want it.”