![\"PHS](\"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/DSC_0064-1024x488.jpg\" "\\"DSC_0064\\"")
PHS Stars Charles Hendricks (#10), Aaron Simpson (#4), & Nick Escoe (#21) are CIF Bound!<\/p><\/div>\n
Good Morning!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m certain after a big victory in Burbank you make arrangements to go (or have some) South Street philly cheese steaks…\u2019made with brotherly love\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m also certain after Pasadena\u2019s 45-41 victory over Burbank last night all the B-Bank faithful felt like doing was to make arrangements… The arrangement being a pine box of such and such dimensions and a six-foot hole to climb down into and never be seen again.<\/span><\/p>\n On one side of the field the hurt was a beast squeezing out all joy and visions of gridiron prosperity… On the other side it was hallelujah jubilee…<\/span><\/p>\n When B-Bank ran wide with an option on fourth and short in the final minutes and was stopped…you got the feeling this game wasn\u2019t over. When Aaron Simpson kept fielding every snap out of the shotgun down around his ankles…you got the feeling this game wasn\u2019t over. When Simpson completed a fourth down pass to Eugene Tripling…you got the feeling this game wasn\u2019t over.<\/span><\/p>\n And when Simpson went 45-yards to Andrew Wells…you got the feeling of divine intervention…Burbank got what Miami felt a generation ago when Boston College\u2019s Doug Flutie hooked up with Gerald Phelan…Hence, the reason the B-Bank faithful just wants to crawl into a hole and be left alone. Let Christmas and Thanksgiving, and the rest of the world go away, let the radioactive hurt dissipate and after a millennium they\u2019ll come out again.<\/span><\/p>\n Wells made this catch surrounded by three defenders…<\/span><\/p>\n As Pasadena took a 30-29 lead at the half I felt like I was in the middle of a Rocky movie with the announcer calling out \u201cIt\u2019s Creed, Balboa! Creed! Balboa!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Been tinkering with the ten best Mid Valley games this decade, this one made the list. It was sheer football…I forgot to breathe for ten minutes…The greatest prep thrill ride I\u2019ve had since Mead beat South at \u201cThe Swamp\u201d in 2005…<\/span><\/p>\n Are you getting the picture?<\/span><\/p>\n Lost in the Simpson to Wells lightening bolt that struck with 1.7 seconds…was Burbank\u2019s Ulises Ochoa\u2019s herculean 72-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the first half. Ochoa broke a tackle, disappeared in a mass of humanity, emerged from a cloud of dust, and took the ball south to paydirt down the eastern sideline.<\/span><\/p>\n Lost was Adam Colman\u2019s 21-yard touchdown pass to Sam Bethany which gave Burbank a 29-23 lead. The pass was superior, the catch was perfect as Pasadena defenders delivered a Malachi Crunch on Bethany that popped the helmet off his head but not the ball out of his hands.<\/span><\/p>\n Lost was a Pasadena assistant getting in Nick Escoe\u2019s face on the sideline and (If I can paraphrase) encouraging him to run north and south, not east to west. Twelve seconds before the break Escoe went north, 65-yards, for his second touchdown.<\/span><\/p>\n While I will say more of Burbank and Pasadena needs to be out to support these teams…the crowd was there in the form of Schurr, Crescenta Valley, Muir, Burroughs, and West Covina.<\/span><\/p>\n Last Add Simpson: After handling at least (I welcome the correction) five snaps down around his ankles in the final drive…PHS quarterback Aaron Simpson was clear; \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to give up, there was no way we were going to give up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n How does this happen? Pasadena was written off early by everyone (Everyone! Because I have a feeling the bandwagon is going to get a little crowded.), head coach Mike McFarland a month ago told me it was essentially a rebuilding year.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The look on Burbank defensive end Zech Crane's face sums up the hurt.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cCoach,\u201d I asked. \u201cWere you snowing me a month ago?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe,\u201d he said shaking his head. Elation, exhaustion, his wife and child next to him. \u201cThis has been a day by day thing. Day by day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Wells\u2019 catch not only lifted Pasadena back into the playoff picture after a year\u2019s absence…It puts Muir on the cusp of missing the post-season dance…after an initial glance at the books… for the first time since prior to 1985. (I can use some help from the Muir faithful on the this…)<\/span><\/p>\n Awesome, 718 words, and its not enough…<\/span><\/p>\n Stay thirsty my friends\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n 153<\/span><\/p>\n Fanview Lite appears Monday thru Saturday at www.midvalleysports.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/DSC_0032-259x300.jpg\" "\\"DSC_0032\\"")