Burlingame Panthers take down Terra Nova to pick up first win

“It was huge (to finally get some offense going),” said Burlingame senior starting quarterback Wyatt McGovern. “We were shut out the last two games. We knew the offense had to pick it up.”

McGovern guided the offense to the most points scored this season for Burlingame (1-3 overall). He completed 8-of-11 passes for 110 yards and connected on a pair of touchdowns — one to Charlie Koch and the other to Isaac Frankel.

“It was a good mix of pass and run,” said Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos. “Last week, I told my coaches, even though we lost, I thought Wyatt played his best game of the year.

“I’m going to say it again.”

Terra Nova (0-1) struggled offensively as well, but the Tigers had a built-in excuse: they were playing their first game of the season, three weeks after first taking the field.

While his team didn’t come up with the victory, Terra Nova head coach Jason Picolotti was pleasantly surprised with how his team performed.

“I thought they were going to whack us and they didn’t,” Picolotti said. “It was tough. The kids played tough. We gassed out a little there at the end, but they played hard the whole time.”

The defenses were the stars in this game as the two offenses, combined, were held under 400 yards. Burlingame managed just 236 yards of offense, while Terra Nova was limited to 140.

With the defenses playing well, the onus on the offenses to just find a way to score. It appeared Burlingame was on its way to an easy win when after forcing the Tigers to punt on their first possession, the Panthers took over on the Terra Nova 37-yard line. They needed just four plays to score their first points since a 19-10 loss to Half Moon Bay March 12.

Burlingame picked up 14 yards on the first play from Kyle Sieben. After a 4-yard run, Elijah La Guardia ripped on a 17-yard rumble for a first-and-goal at the Terra Nova 3. Frankel went into the end zone on the next play and coupled with Ryan Kall’s extra point, Burlingame enjoyed a 7-0 lead.

And then — not much. The teams exchanged punts over the next four drives combined before Burlingame’s Jackson Giovara intercepted a Terra Nova pass.

But the Panthers turned the ball over on downs inside the Tigers’ 20-yard line.

“We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” McGovern said.

On its ensuing drive, the Terra Nova offense finally got in gear. Starting at their own 19, the Tigers drove 81 yards on 13 plays, taking advantage of a Burlingame pass interference penalty along the way.

Facing a third-and-long at the Burlingame 38, Terra Nova quarterback Dominic Gordon found Nate Bendo for a 14-yard gain and a first down.

Three plays later, Gordon scrambled out of trouble and threw across his body to Connor Uter, who was double-covered in the end zone but hauled in the pass for a 17-yard touchdown.

The PAT failed, but the Tigers trailed just 7-6 and had the momentum going into halftime. Gordon would finish the game 10-for-21 for 86 yards and the touchdown.

Burlingame grabbed the advantage right back to start the third quarter. Starting at their own 26, Sieben ripped off a 12-yard run. The Panthers then picked up 15 yards on a Terra Nova unsportsmanlike penalty and two plays later, McGovern connected with Koch for a 29-yard gain to the Tigers 16.

Again, the Panthers stalled out and faced other fourth down in the red zone. This time, McGovern hit Koch with a 23-yard scoring strike to give Burlingame a 14-6 lead and a little breathing room.

“We went over there (at halftime) and challenged them,” Philipopoulos said. “There was nothing, schematically, we needed to change. It was just us getting in our own way.”

After forcing a three-and-out on Terra Nova’s next possession, the Panthers went right back to work, covering 59 yards on nine plays, culminating with a 3-yard scoring pass from McGovern to Frankel for a 21-6 lead after three quarters of play.

McGovern later capped his strong play with an interception to thwart a possible Terra Nova scoring drive.

“That was just icing on the cake,” McGovern said.