Burlingame High School's football program will mark a century of competition when the Panthers host Palo Alto at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at Peter Umland Stadium.

The school's official athletics account announced the milestone on Wednesday, Aug. 19, declaring the start of the program's 100th season of football operations and inviting fans to the stadium or to follow the team on the road.

Head coach John Philipopoulos enters the centennial campaign coming off back-to-back winning seasons. The Panthers went 8-5 overall and 3-2 in league play during 2024-25, then posted a 6-5 record with the same 3-2 league mark last year. The Mercury News' preseason De Anza Division preview ranked Burlingame No. 3 in the division heading into the fall.

Philipopoulos has coached the Panthers for more than a decade. The San Francisco 49ers named him their Coach of the Week in October 2014 after a 35-14 victory.

The program's roots stretch to the school's founding in December 1923, when it opened as "San Mateo High School, Burlingame Branch" and shared a football team with San Mateo High. The school became Burlingame High School in 1927, and the rivalry between the two schools endures as the annual "Little Big Game." As of November 2021, Burlingame led the all-time series 58-32-4.

The Panthers play their home games at Peter Umland Stadium, named in 2014 for a class-of-1954 alumnus who volunteered as a track and cross-country assistant coach for about eight years and later funded a $250,000 track replacement and made the school district a beneficiary of his charitable trust.

Burlingame competes in the Peninsula Athletic League's De Anza Division. The BHS athletics schedule lists Friday's game against Palo Alto as the varsity season opener, ahead of the CIF Central Coast Section's official start of play Aug. 27-28.