Panthers pound Spartans

“Holes were so open,” Kirk said, after he put up more than 200 yards of offense. He rushed just 13 times, but had 167 yards and three scores. He then capped his night with a pair of catches for 46 yards — including a 38-yard, catch-and-run for a fourth touchdown.

“It was definitely a good feeling finally moving the ball,” Kirk said.

It could not be coincidence Burlingame (1-0 PAL De Anza, 4-1 overall) had its best offensive output with the return of one offensive lineman and the debut of another. JJ Vea injured his shoulder early in the season opener against Half Moon Bay and made his return Friday. It also was the debut of Fotu Lavulo, a sophomore transfer from Riordan who had to sit out the non-league portion of the schedule.

Together, they helped the Panthers to 317 yards rushing for the game.

“I think it’s a direct correlation,” said Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos.

It took a while for the offense to get going, so the Panthers did what they’ve done through the first four games of the season — leaned on the defense. And once again, the Panthers’ defensive unit showed out, in the first half especially when they had three tackles for a loss, a pair of interceptions and three passes defended.

They finished the game with four passes defended and three turnovers.

And it was Vea who set the tone on the very first play, wrapping up Mountain View running back Diego Ortega-Gerow for a 4-yard loss. Two plays later, Vea batted down a third-down pass attempt to force Mountain View (0-1, 0-5) to punt on its first possession.

“JJ is an impact player,” Philipopoulos said. “He’s a three-year varsity starter and just brings the intensity to the defensive line, to the offensive line.”

Vea then switched sides of the ball and helped lead the Panthers to their first score of the game. Kirk opened his night with an 8-yard run, followed by a 22-yard burst over left guard. Hayden Haba, with Vea and Isaac Reyes Sandoval opening a massive hole, added a 20-yard bolt down to the 10; Luke Dimech had a 9-yard carry to the 1 and Kirk finished it with a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

The Panthers went through the Spartans defense like a hot knife through butter — but they couldn’t really duplicate it the rest of the half. They punted on their second possession, but got a 30-yard scoring jaunt from Kirk in the second quarter to put them up 14-0.

But the Mountain View offense was moving the ball, and if not for some solid play defensively, the game might have been different. The Spartans started their next possession at their own 45 and methodically moved into the red zone, before stalling at the Burlingame 17 and attempting a 34-yard field goal.

But Viliami Sekona’s kick hit his snapper in the back of the head. But the holder, who was also the quarterback, picked up the loose ball and attempted a pass that was intercepted by Burlingame’s Ravi Krishnan as the Spartans came up empty.

Sekona did connect on a 36 yarder just before halftime and the Spartans were still in the game at the break, down just 14-3.

“It was odd. I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Philipopoulos said of the offensive struggles. “A couple of untimely penalties and a couple missed assignments.”

But Burlingame came out a different offense in the second half. After picking up just first downs in the first two quarters, the Panthers had six on their first 11 plays of the third period alone and then set the tone to the second half by taking the second-half kickoff and running the ball down the Spartans’ throats.

Starting at their own 25, Panthers quarterback Luke Levitt opened the half with runs of 16 and 11 yards before Kirk broke off a 30-yard run. Not even a block in the back could stall the drive as Dimech capped it with a 6-yard run to end a 75-yard, seven-play drive.

Mountain View responded with a touchdown of their own with Liam Tyler collecting a pass on a slant and turning it into a 25-yard score to cut the Spartans’ deficit to 21-10.

Mountain View would end up passing for 217 yards, completing 20 of 30 attempts.

But the Spartans could not get a stop on defense. The Panthers needed just four plays to find pay dirt on their next drive. Kirk opened the drive with a 4-yard burst before Haba broke out with a 34-yard scamper down to the Mountain View 33. Two plays later, Kirk burst through the middle and weaved his way 25 yards for his third score of the night.

“Every hole was massive,” Kirk said.

Kirk still had one more big play in him, however. After forcing a Spartans punt, the Panthers went 80 yards on six plays. Dimech had a 21-yard run, Levitt had a 16-yard scramble for a first down and on the next play, hit Kirk in the flat, who then went the final 35 yards for a 38-yard score and a 36-10 lead.

Ciaran Baker then put an exclamation point on the win by carrying the ball four straight times, gaining 54 yards and scoring from six yards out for Burlingame’s final points.

“We told them at halftime, ‘If we were just playing a little bit better on offense, we be in a better place,’” Philipopoulos said. “We challenged them to come out (in the second half) and put them away.”