By Ernie W. Webb III
BURLINGAME – It took 46 years for Burlingame to win its first Lyon County League championship in football, but the Bearcats have made up for lost time with a flurry of titles in the past decade.
With a 50-0 rout of Lebo on Friday night, Burlingame (5-0, 4-0) captured its six LCL crown in the last 10 years.
“Winning the league is one of our goals every year, and it’s always important to our program,” said senior center and defensive end Parker Haid. “We started off a little slow tonight, but I thought we played really well.”
The slow start included a long, time-consuming drive by the Wolves that began midway through the opening quarter and stretched into the second period. Lebo had the ball for more than seven minutes and ran 15 plays, threatening to counter a touchdown on Burlingame’s first possession.
But the Bearcats defense tightened up in the red zone, and JD Tyson’s interception and long return squelched the Wolves’ momentum.
“I think we got a little tired on that long drive, but we came up with the stop when we needed it,” Haid said. “That was a huge interception and return by JD. That got us going.”
Leading 8-0, Burlingame scored on the next play when Timmy Roberts caught a pass in the end zone, even though it was tipped by Lebo’s Drew Konrade. That touchdown ignited a 28-point avalanche in the final 6:45 of the half.
Dane Winters had two touchdown receptions (15 and 10 yards) and Drake Skirvin an 18-yard scoring grab during the stretch, which gave the Bearcats a 36-0 lead at the half.
“What I really liked about the win was Lebo did a nice job of not giving Dane anything easy, and we leaned on some other guys,” said Burlingame coach Jeff Slater, now 85-24 during an 11-year tenure. “JD did a good job spreading the ball around to Drake and Timmy.”
The Bearcats wasted little time after the break, pushing the lead to 44-0 on Winters’ 14-yard run three minutes into the third quarter. Skirvin, who scored on all three of his catches, hauled in a 33-yard bomb from Tyson at the 7:39 mark of the period to end the game due to the 45-point rule.
“Skirvin just went off tonight,” Haid said. “He was awesome.”
Tyson finished with 233 total yards (192 passing, 41 rushing) to lead Burlingame, while Winters had 78 yards receiving and 34 rushing. Skirvin added 71 yards on three receptions and Roberts 43 yards on two grabs. The Bearcats held Lebo to 95 yards on 32 plays.
“I thought our defensive ends (Haid and Roberts) played outstanding, and Brock Moon (junior linebacker) had a really good game, as did JD Tyson at linebacker,” Slater said. “Those guys made an in-game adjustment themselves, and after that Lebo found it hard to find success.”
The Bearcats won their first LCL title in 2015 and own championships in 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2024. With the win over the Wolves, Burlingame also has a leg up on winning its fifth district title under Slater.
“I thought our team really took a big step,” Slater said. “I thought we took our game to another level, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
With its fifth win, Burlingame clinched its 11th consecutive winning season. In the previous 20 years, the Bearcats had one such campaign.
BURLINGAME 50, LEBO 0
Lebo 0 0 0 X — 0
Burlingame 8 28 14 X — 50
First Quarter
BHS – Drake Skirvin 20 pass from JD Tyson (Dane Winters pass from Tyson)
Second Quarter
BHS – Timmy Roberts 33 pass from Tyson (Pass failed)
BHS – Winters 15 pass from Tyson (Tyson run)
BHS – Skirvin 18 pass from Tyson (Run failed)
BHS – Winters 10 pass from Tyson (Skirvin pass from Tyson)
Third Quarter
BHS – Winters 14 run (Roberts pass from Tyson)
BHS – Skirvin 33 pass from Tyson (end of game)
GAME IN FIGURES
LHS BHS
First downs 6 13
Rushes-Yards 23-56 13-78
Passing 3-9-1 10-11-0
Passing Yds 39 192
Total yards 95 270
Punts 4-26.3 None
Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0
Penalties 3-35 2-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Lebo: Drew Konrade 13-35, Eli Hauff 9-21, Taegan Kelley 1-0. Burlingame: Tyson 9-41, Winters 3-34, Roberts 1-3.
RECEIVING – Lebo: Brayden Hopkins 3-39. Burlingame: Winters 5-78, Skirvin 3-71, Roberts 2-43.
PASSING – Lebo: Konrade 3-9-1 39. Burlingame: Tyson 10-11-0 192.