MidValleySports.Com

By Thom Hendrickson

(Glendale) – James Williams dashed 25 yards around the right side to give Burbank their first lead of the game, 47-40. However it didn’t last long as Crescenta Valley came right back to score and then win it with a two point conversion on a pass from Brian Gadsby to Chase Walker for a thrilling 48-47 overtime victory over the Bulldogs in a Pacific League classic.

It didn’t look good for Crescenta Valley in overtime, Gadsby had to fall on the football after a bad snap. The result a 13 yard loss leaving the Falcons at second and 23. Gadsby’s next pass found Walker, as he outfought the Burbank defender for the ball and hauled in a 38 yard touchdown catch.

“Once we got into OT, we knew we couldn’t stop them, we were going for two all the way,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling.

Gadsby rolled to his right and fired a pass towards the endzone. It looked like it was going out of the endzone until Walker skied into the air, grabbed it and came down with both feet in bounds for the huge win. CV took the opening kickoff and plodded down the field in 16 plays with Kyle Tavison going over from the 1 for a  7-0 advantage. Burbank took less than a minute as James Williams ran 43 yards for a score.

Repeat, CV took 12 plays with Tavison going over from the 2 this time. Burbank took 23 seconds, James Williams sprinted 59 yards around the right side to make it 14-13 after the extra point was missed. CV ending the scoring in the first half with a trick play, “fumblerooski”, for a 21-13 lead. The two teams went back and forth in the third quarter. Burbank sandwiched two touchdown passes by Ryan Meredith to Oharjee Brown, 21 and 27 yards, around a two-yard touchdown run by Joseph Pendleton. Crescenta Valley’s Kevin Hello ran 37 yards for one touchdown before Gadsy hit Walker in the endzone for a 52 yard pass play.

When the dust settled, CV was clinging to a 34-32 lead. In the fourth, Hello dashed in from 10 yards out to make the score 40-32. The extra point was missed giving Burbank a chance to tie the score. They were successful as Williams did the majority of the work with 58 yards on the drive, the last six for the TD. After Tony Toledo ran in the 2-point conversion, it was all knotted at 40-40. Crescenta Valley had one last chance as they drove from their 10 to Burbank’s 10. As time was running out, Alex Atanackovic missed a 32 yard field goal attempt. The Bulldogs and Falcons were off to overtime.

***Gadsby completed 25 out of 33 passes for 345 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

***Tavison, in his first action of the season after recovering from a preseason injury, led CV with 136 yards on 26 carries. He scored 2 touchdowns, however he also fumbled twice. Kevin Hello carried 15 times for 107 yards and scored 2 touchdowns as well.

***Walker made 10 catches for 106 yards for CV.

***Burbank was penalized 12 times for 113 yards and Crescenta Valley 7 times for 50 yards.

***Burbank’s Meredith completed 9 out of 22 passes for 156 yards with 2 touchdown’s and 1 interception.

***Williams led Burbank in rushing with 264 yards on 20 carries and 4 touchdowns.

***Brown made 4 catches for 75 yards with 2 touchdowns for Burbank.

***Twice Burbank was flagged for dead ball offsides penalties on made extra points by Crescenta Valley. CV missed both rekicks, one wide left and the second a bad snap. It kept Burbank in the game.

***After Tavison had picked up 7 yards and was tackled out of bounds early in the third quarter, Burbank received two penalties, horse collar and personal foul, adding up to 30 yards. They helped Crescenta Valley score its fourth touchdown.

***The Falcons scored their third touchdown on a legally executed “fumblerooski”. Gadsby brilliantly faked the ball to his running back and slipped it to his offensive lineman Ryan Cancelosi. Cancelosi ran untouched into the left side of the endzone.