CANTON – Burlingame overcame a decades-long drought behind a young, hungry group that often pummeled the opposition en route to three straight state semifinals in Eight-Man Division I.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, that impressive run came to end Friday night in a regional championship game against a Canton-Galva team that looked a lot like those dominating teams. The Eagles (9-1) jumped all over several Burlingame mistakes and rolled to a 74-26 win in a game that ended late in the third quarter.
“I said it coming into this game, and I’ll say it again: They look an awful lot like our teams a few years ago,” said Burlingame coach Jeff Slater, whose team finished 8-2. “Some things caught up to us tonight, and we made too many mistakes.”
Those mistakes included four interceptions, a snap over the punter’s head and out of the back of the end zone for a safety, and a plethora of penalties. Combine those miscues with the devastating loss of all-league center/nose guard and team leader Keller Snesrud to a knee injury in the first quarter, and the Bearcats struggled to keep up with the high-flying Eagles.
Canton-Galva led 8-0 after the safety and 14-yard pass from Landon Everett to Kinser Colgin, but Burlingame answered moments later when Montana Giffin connected with Trevin Lewis on a 46-yard scoring strike.
Snesrud suffered the knee injury on the next possession and had to be helped to the sideline after lying on the field for several minutes. The Eagles scored two plays later, igniting a 20-point flurry that buried the Bearcats in a 28-6 hole in the opening quarter.
“I don’t want to say that injury was the game, because they played great,” Slater said. “But losing your starting center that early – it hurt.”
Burlingame stayed in the game with a 1-yard touchdown run from Seth Greenwood and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Giffin to Cole Thomas, but trailed 44-20 after Everett’s 3-yard run and two-point conversion.
The Bearcats drove into the red zone in the closing minute, but an interception on second down from the 8-yard-line squelched their momentum.
“We got into the red zone a couple of times and had opportunities, but didn’t come through,” Slater said. “We had the safety, then Keller gets hurt; it just kind of snowballed from there.”
Particularly in the third quarter, as the Eagles scored four touchdowns and converted three two-point conversions. Burlingame’s only score came on Greenwood’s 50-yard run to cut the deficit to 52-26 five minutes into the period.
Canton-Galva countered with 22 unanswered points to end the game.
Everett had 358 total yards, including 219 rushing on 25 carries, and accounted for nine touchdowns. Giffin threw for 143 yards, while Greenwood rushed for 83 on 17 attempts.
Burlingame’s senior class – Giffin, Greenwood, Snesrud, Lewis, Lucas Masters and Jordan Bowers – finished their careers with a 41-5 record, three Lyon County League championships and three state semifinal appearances.
Burlingame 12 8 6 X — 26
Canton-Galva 28 16 30 X — 74
CANTON-GALVA 74, BURLINGAME 26
First Quarter
Canton-Galva: Safety. Snap out of end zone.
Canton-Galva: Colgin 14 pass from Everett (Run failed)
Burlingame: Lewis 46 pass from Giffin (Run failed)
Canton-Galva: Everett 1 run (Pass failed)
Canton-Galva: Collins 27 interception return (Run failed)
Canton-Galva: Struber 38 pass from Everett (Everett run)
Burlingame: Greenwood 1 run (Pass failed)
Second Quarter
Canton-Galva: Everett 44 run (Everett run)
Burlingame: Thomas 21 pass from Giffin (Masters pass from Giffin)
Canton-Galva: Everett 3 run (Everett run)
Third Quarter
Canton-Galva: Everett 44 run (Everett run)
Burlingame: Greenwood 50 run (Pass failed)
Canton-Galva: Everett 38 run (Everett run)
Canton-Galva: Everett 13 run (Everett run)
Canton-Galva: Everett 4 run
GAME IN FIGURES
BHS CG
First Downs 7 19
Rushes-Yards 21-92 50-318
Passing Yards 143 139
Passing 12-24-4 8-13-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-0
Penalties-Yards 9-56 3-15
Punting 3-26.7 2-39.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Burlingame: Greenwood 17-83, Giffin 4-9. Canton-Galva: Everett 25-219, Collins 19-73, Struber 6-26.
Passing — Burlingame: Giffin 12-24-4 143. Canton-Galva: Everett 8-13-0 139.
Receiving — Burlingame: Masters 6-54, Lewis 1-46, Greenwood 4-22, Thomas 1-21. Canton-Galva: Struber 5-68, Colgin 2-64, Collins 1-7.