Burlingame wins 'Little Big Game'

That was more than enough motivation for Burlingame quarterback Drew Shiller.

"Regardless of records, just going out our senior year, getting The Paw back (is special)," Shiller said. "[The seniors] were the ones who lost it (last year)."

Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos, who is now 2-1 in Little Big Games, said winning the trophy back was more gratifying that just holding on to it.

"Without a doubt," Philipopoulos said. "Ever since last season, this (game) has been in the back of our minds."

Balanced attack

The Panthers used one of their most balanced attacks of the season to record their eighth win of the season. Five different players combined to rush for 220 yards and five touchdowns. Ryan Gilbert rushed for 77 yards and two scores while Gabe Weisbarth added another touchdown and 78 more yards. Brandon Cervelli and Rodney Hampton also got into the scoring act for the Panthers as they combined for 66 yards and two scores on just four carries.

"We have a lot of good football players," Philipopoulos said. "Because we have a lot of depth, we have good football players on the sidelines chomping at the bit."

Shiller was his usual efficient self. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 125 and threw a 6-yard scoring pass to Mike Mutto.

"I think we tried to do [a balanced attack] all year long," Philipopoulos said. "We needed to find a balance and we had that [Saturday]."

Burlingame set the tone early when Hampton set up the Panthers first score with a 65-yard opening kickoff return down to the San Mateo 20. for plays later, Gilbert scored from three yards out.

San Mateo had no problem driving the ball all game long. The Bearcats outgained Burlingame 388 to 345, but mistakes at the wrong time and a Burlingame defense that stiffened when it needed to the most, doomed San Mateo. Following Burlingame s first touchdown, San Mateo took over at its own 26 and drove down to the Burlingame 28 before Burlingame s Nick Buckley came up with the first of his two interceptions on the day.

Not only did the pick thwart a Bearcat drive, the Panthers turned it into a touchdown when Weisbarth broke off a 41-yard scoring run to cap a five-play, 63-yard drive, giving Burlingame a 13-0 lead with 4:59 left in the first quarter.

Bearcat drive

Again the Bearcats embarked on a long drive. Starting from their 22, the Bearcats moved down the field methodically, taking nearly five minutes off the clock, but an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the ball back to the Panthers who promptly put together its longest scoring drive of the day.

By the time Shiller hit Mutto with a 6-yard scoring strike, the Panthers had driven 62 yards on 11 plays to take a 20-0 lead.

After a three-and-out from San Mateo, Burlingame was at it again, scoring its fourth touchdown on as many drives. Cervelli capped the drive with a 4-yard scoring run with less than a minute left in the first half to give the Panthers a 27-0 lead.

San Mateo's offense finally finished a drive on its next possession. The Bearcats drove 80 yards on just four plays. Nick Montgomery capped the drive with a 45-yard, underneath screen pass from C.J. Easter that made the score 27-7 at halftime.

That score appeared to wake the Bearcats up, but not before another San Mateo turnover resulted in another Burlingame score. Buckley picked off another pass on San Mateo s opening drive of the second half and Gilbert made them pay with a 1-yard scoring run.

San Mateo responded with the longest drive of the game. Starting from its own 28, the Bearcats embarked on a 21-play, 72-yard drive that took over eight minutes off the clock. Easter hit Mark Garcia with a 4-yard scoring pass to cut Burlingame s lead to 33-14.

Easter and his receivers finally got hot in the second half. Easter, who finished the game 21 for 34 for 287 yards, was a pedestrian 5 for 11 for 108 yards in the first half, 45 of which came on the touchdown pass to Montgomery.

In the second half, Easter was on fire. He finished the game by completing his final 13 passes in a row.

"We've been a second-half team like they re going out of style," said San Mateo coach Mike Parodi. "We have to do that all the time."

Both teams added scores late in the fourth quarter. Hampton scored from six yards out after a 54-yard scamper by Cervelli. San Mateo responded when Easter scored from 17 yards out with just over a minute left to play.

The game turned out to be a record-setting day for both Shiller and Easter, both seniors. With his performance, Shiller became the school all-time leading passer with 5,618 yards and 51 touchdowns. Easter set a San Mateo single-season record by throwing for 2,376 yards.

"You can't say enough (about Easter). He never played quarterback before. Just look what he's done," Parodi said. "I wish I had him for three years like Burlingame had Shiller."

Burlingame 40, San Mateo 21

San Mateo (0-8, 1-9) 0 7 0 14 -- 21

Burlingame (7-1, 8-2) 13 14 6 7 -- 40

Scoring summary

B -- Gilbert 3 run (Shiller kick)

B -- Weisbarth 41 run (kick failed)

B -- Mutto 6 pass from Shiller (Shiller kick)

B -- Cervelli 4 run (Shiller kick)

SM -- Montgomery 45 pass from Easter (Asp kick)

B -- Gilbert 1 run (pass failed)

SM -- Garcia 4 pass from Easter (Asp kick)

B -- Hampton 6 run (Shiller kick)

SM -- Easter 17 run (Asp kick)

Individual stats

RUSHING (car-yds): SAN MATEO -- Easter 9-67, Tuipolotu 12-34, Vai 3-9. Totals 24-110. BURLINGAME -- Weisbarth 11-78, Gilbert 11-77, Cervelli 3-61, Hampton 1-6, Shiller 6-(-2). Totals 32-220.

PASSING (com-att-yds-td-int): SAN MATEO -- Easter 21-34-287-2-2. BURLINGAME -- Shiller 12-17-125-1-0.

RECEIVING (rec-yds): SAN MATEO -- Montgomery 6-80, Vai 3-67, Helenius 5-64, DeTrinidad 4-56, Yip 1-12, Garcia 1-4, Tuipolotu 1-4. Totals 21-287. BURLINGAME -- Brunicardi 4-45, O Leary 2-31, Weisbarth 3-27, Gilbert 1-14, Mutto 1-6, Cervelli 1-2. Totals 12-125.

TOTAL YARDAGE (rush-pass-total): SAN MATEO -- 101-287-388. BURLINGAME -- 220-125-345.