Burlingame won its fifth district title in 11 seasons under Jeff Slater with a 60-30 win over Rural Vista.By Ernie W. Webb III
BURLINGAME – With a district championship on the line, Burlingame did what it has done all season Friday night against Rural Vista: Overwhelm the competition with a prolific offense. The Bearcats tuned up for the Eight-Player Division II playoffs with nearly 500 yards in a 60-30 win over the Heat.
“Rural Vista has a good football team, and they pushed us at times tonight,” said Burlingame coach Jeff Slater, whose team improved to 8-0 and hosts St. Paul in the opening round Halloween night. “This is our fourth undefeated regular season (2015, 2016, 2017, 2024), and if not for a couple of plays, we would have six of those (7-1 in 2018 and 2022). We have a great group of kids, and winning the district championship is always one of our goals.”
Burlingame wasted little time staking their claim to the District 2 title, scoring the first 22 points after Timmy Roberts wrestled the ball away from a Rural Vista running back for a fumble recovery on the game’s opening series.
The Bearcats scored on 26-yard pass from JD Tyson to Roberts, a 17-yard toss from Tyson to Dane Winters and a 48-yard burst up the middle from the latter.
“There were times when we struggled in space on defense, but we won the turnover battle and made enough big plays,” Slater said. “We leaned on Dane a lot tonight, and he got it done.”
Winters has had one of the best careers in school history, and Friday’s game ranks among his best at a Bearcat. The senior Swiss Army knife racked up 282 total yards, including 144 rushing on 18 carries and 138 receiving on nine catches.
Roberts, another four-year starter, added 96 yards of offense and several key plays on defense. Tyson continued an explosive final season of his career by throwing for 303 yards on 18-of-27 accuracy. The offensive line (Parker Haid, Jakobe Whitmore, Jackson Palmer, Brock Moon, et al) paved the way to 470 yards on 49 plays (9.6 yards per play).
“I told the guys that I coach them hard, but I love them harder,” Slater said. “This is the best time of the year in football and for our program. The playoffs are so much fun, and I really want to see this group have the moments many of the guys before them have had. They deserve that.”
Rural Vista (6-2) got back into the game briefly in the second quarter after an 18-yard touchdown from Koden Sanford to Grant Eskeldson. The Heat then capitalized when an inadvertent whistle negated a Winters’ touchdown run, pulling within 30-16 on Gavin Carson’s 4-yard run and a conversion.
“I really thought that flipped the momentum,” Slater said. “We were looking at going up 38-8 when that happened.”
The Bearcats quickly regained the momentum by scoring in 31 seconds moments before the end of the first half. Winters capped a six-play, 58-yard drive with an 18-yard pass from Tyson, and Burlingame led 36-16 at the break.
In the second half, the Bearcats got three touchdowns from Winters (Runs of 1 and 3 yards and a 28-yard catch) and an 11-yard run from Roberts. Drake Skirvin had 51 yards receiving and Moon 40.
Logan Tate led Rural Vista with 84 yards on 17 carries, while Carson added 77 yards rushing. The Heat had 304 yards, including 240 rushing on 48 attempts.
BURLINGAME 60, RURAL VISTA 30
Rural Vista 0 16 6 8 — 30
Burlingame 22 14 12 12 — 60
First Quarter
BHS – Timmy Roberts 26 pass from JD Tyson (Run failed)
BHS – Dane Winters 17 pass from Tyson (Brock Moon pass from Tyson)
BHS – Winters 48 run (Winters pass from Tyson)
Second Quarter
RVHS – Grant Eskeldson 18 pass from Koden Sanford (Logan Tate run)
BHS – Drake Skirvin 13 pass from Tyson (Skirvin pass from Tyson)
RVHS – Gavin Carson 4 run (Kole Riedy pass from Sanford)
BHS – Winters 18 pass from Tyson (Pass failed)
Third Quarter
BHS – Winters 1 run (Pass failed)
RVHS – Tate 5 run (Run failed)
BHS – Roberts 11 run (Pass failed)
Fourth Quarter
BHS – Winters 28 pass from Tyson (Run failed)
BHS – Winters 3 run (Run failed)
RVHS – Sanford 1 run (Nathen Traynor pass from Sanford)
GAME IN FIGURES
RVHS BHS
First downs 17 24
Rushes-Yards 48-240 22-167
Passing 3-8-1 18-27-0
Passing yards 64 303
Total yards 304 470
Punts 1-25 None
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties 11-80 3-24
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Rural Vista: Tate 17-84, Carson 12-77, Riedy 9-39, Sanford 9-35, Eskeldson 1-5. Burlingame: Winters 18-144, Roberts 3-22, Tyson 1-1.
RECEIVING – Rural Vista: Eskeldson 2-34, Riedy 1-30. Burlingame: Winters 9-138, Roberts 4-74, Skirvin 2-51, Moon 3-40.
PASSING – Rural Vista: Sanford 3-8-1 64. Burlingame: Tyson 18-27-0 303.