Burlingame High’s football team travels to Woodside on Friday, Oct. 23, seeking its first league win. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Panthers are 5-2 overall and 0-2 in the Peninsula Athletic League’s De Anza Division after consecutive losses to Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay. Senior running back Qasim Abutair discussed the team’s playoff goal after the Oct. 16 loss to the Cougars, as The Burlingame B reported.
“We got to flip the page from here, get one more win, get into CCS,” Abutair said, referring to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Burlingame trailed Half Moon Bay 14-7 at halftime, rallied to tie the game at 21 after three quarters and remained tied at 28 late in the fourth. The Cougars scored with less than a minute remaining to win 35-28. Burlingame had 38.8 seconds left for its final possession but could not respond.
Senior quarterback Mark O’Grady identified his third-quarter interception, which Half Moon Bay turned into a touchdown, as an important moment. Head coach John Philipopoulos told The Burlingame B that three plays helped determine the outcome, while praising his players’ effort and execution.
Philipopoulos said preparation for Half Moon Bay included watching film at lunch on game day. O’Grady said the Panthers planned to study Woodside’s film during the following week.
Woodside enters after a 33-0 victory over Mountain View, according to MaxPreps. The Wildcats lost 35-21 to Half Moon Bay on Oct. 9 despite three rushing touchdowns from JJ Lange, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Senior receiver Will Armstrong leads Burlingame with 57.9 receiving yards per game and seven total touchdowns, according to the team’s MaxPreps statistics. Junior running back Luke Doss averages 37.6 rushing yards per game.
On defense, senior cornerback Dylan Black has six interceptions, and senior linebacker Jason Jajeh averages 4.9 tackles per game.
Following Woodside, Burlingame hosts Mountain View on Friday, Oct. 30, and San Mateo on Saturday, Nov. 7, according to its schedule.
