Photo credit Trevor Thiele-Sardina
The M-A varsity football team defeated Burlingame 40-14 in the Homecoming game on Friday, October 7. Star running back Jordan Mims was involved early, catching a 32-yard pass from Aajon Johnson for the first touchdown of the game. The Bears then failed the two point conversion. Late in the first quarter Burlingame finally responded with a 32-yard passing touchdown of its own. With 2:44 left in the first quarter Spencer Corona caught a 30-yard pass to put the ball on the one-yard line. Johnson then converted on a run to score. The Bears led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter after a made extra point by Corona.
Burlingame held a brief lead in the second quarter after scoring another passing touchdown. Mims then scored on the next M-A drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown. The senior running back had 173 rushing yard on 15 carries, 33 receiving yards, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown. M-A held a 19-14 lead at the half.
M-A dominated in the third quarter, outscoring Burlingame 14-0. Mekhi Blackmon had two receiving touchdowns in the quarter. He caught a 16-yard pass from Miles Conrad and a 61-yard bomb from Johnson. Blackmon also added an interception followed by a 40-yard return. Conrad went in for most of the second half.
The Bears held Burlingame scoreless again in the fourth quarter and added one final touchdown. The Bears were able to get down to the three-yard line in order for Conrad to run it in for a score. Corona added the extra point; he went 2-3 on Points After Touchdown (PATs) during the night. A strong performance from the defensive front allowed the Burlingame quarterback little time to throw.
In the game, Blackmon had 98 receiving yards on just five catches. Conrad went 5-7 passing for 42 yards, with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. Johnson completed 9-14 for 153 yards and two passing touchdowns. Johnson also rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Other notable receiving stats were Corona’s 45 yards on three catches and Tate Tussing’s 15 yards on three catches.
Defensively, the team combined for 79 tackles. Christian Wiseman took down 14 Burlingame players on the night. Other notable defensive performances were Noa Ngalu with six tackles, Devon Dundas with six tackles, Epeli Mataele with five tackles, Marquis Reid with five tackles, Tussing with five tackles, Bryan Kang with five tackles, and returning safety Josh Lepulu with four tackles.
The Bears are now 4-2 overall and 2-0 in league. They lost both games by a combined 20 points and could very easily be 6-0. We think M-A will be a very competitive team come playoff time!
The Bears play again this week versus rival Sacred Heart Prep (1-5 overall, 1-1 in league) at Sacred Heart on Friday at 3 p.m. Come and support your team on Friday!
