PASADENA >> Pasadena High is sending a very loud and clear message to the rest of the Pacific League-Upper. If anyone else wants the league football championship they’ll have to find some kind of way to slow down the potent Bulldogs offense and find a way to score enough points on its stout defense. Burroughs tried but was unable to do either as Pasadena used a 35-point explosion in the second quarter to cruise to a 48-14 league win on Friday night.
Pasadena (6-1, 2-0) has now won six straight games after dropping its season opener 15-14 to La Serna.
The Bulldogs’ run for a second straight league title in a full season now sets up nicely for the team as it will wrap up the regular season with games against Arcadia, Crescenta Valley and Muir. All three teams have losing records.
“We’re coming together,” said Pasadena coach Dejuan Shamburger. “Everybody is sticking together through the ups and downs.”
Pasadena was led on offense by quarterback Indiana Wijay. He threw six touchdown passes while completing 15 of 19 passes for 200 yards.
“He’s doing his thing and gelling now,” Shamburger said of Wijay. “He had a hard preseason and is starting to come along.”
Three Pasadena players caught two touchdowns each. Baylin Brooks is one of them. He caught four passes for 89 yards and had touchdown receptions of 28 and 43 yards. Cameron Mitchell caught three passes for 28 yards and had touchdown receptions of 19 and 4 yards. Camden Jones had two receptions which were touchdowns of 15 and 2 yards.
Pasadena’s passing attack found its rhythm but its running game also performed well thanks to Marlan Wilson and Micah McGavin. Wilson rushed for 112 yards on 11 carries while McGavin had 98 yards on only five carries. One of those was a dazzling 79-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that gave Pasadena a 21-0 lead.
“I like to call (McGavin and Wilson) thunder and lightning,” Shamburger said.
McGavin said he’s lightning.
“I love it,” he said of his nickname. “I think it suits me. I make moves really fast. It looks like lightning the way I move. I’m fast on top of that so it just strikes.”
Pasadena’s first offensive play of the game was a touchdown run by McGavin that was called back due to a holding penalty. The Bulldogs though brushed that off and scored five plays later when Wijay hit Brooks over the middle on a third-and-11 for that 28-yard touchdown that gave Pasadena a quick 7-0 lead.
The second quarter scoring burst that put the game well out of reach of Burroughs (5-2, 1-1) started less than a minute into the quarter when Wijay fired a pass to the right side of the end zone for Mitchell who jumped and caught it for his 19-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Pasadena made it 21-0 on its next possession when McGavin took the handoff and cut right for his impressive 79-yard touchdown run.
Pasadena recovered a fumble on the next offensive play for Burroughs. The Bulldogs took over at the Bears 46 and scored to make it 28-0 when Wijay rolled right and fired a dart into traffic to find Mitchell in the middle of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown pass.
Pasadena blocked a punt four plays later which gave the Bulldog offense the ball at the Burroughs 15. Two plays after that, Wijay found Jones for a 15-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead.
Wijay hit Brooks for a 43-yard touchdown with just over a minute remaining before halftime to give Pasadena a dominating 42-0 lead.
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The Pasadena defense enabled the offense to score quickly. It held Burroughs to only 61 total yards in the first half. The Bulldogs also had three sacks on top of recovering that fumble.
McGavin said the team is focused as it looks to close out league play the next three weeks.
“We’re slowly rolling into the playoffs,” he said. “I’m expecting big results from us. I think we can go all way for sure. There’s nothing preparation can’t really do. As long as we all stay focused and work together as a team we should be able to make it.”