Plancarte stars as Burbank football tops rival Burroughs

BURBANK — Diego Plancarte was already having a career day during the Burbank High School football team’s 38-21 win over cross-town rival Burroughs before he added a fourth-quarter interception that he returned for a touchdown to help finish off the win.

“I could tell from the get-go he wanted to score,” Burbank quarterback Damian Corona said. “He deserved it. He’s a baller and he balled out today.”

Plancarte, a junior, broke multiple tackles on his way to scoring.

“I had to take back,” Plancarte said. “I was like, ‘You can get in the end zone,’ and that’s exactly what I did.”

Before the pick six, Plancarte starred on offense for the Bulldogs (5-5). He had three receiving touchdowns and racked up 120 yards on 12 catches in the win.

The game was played as part of the US Marines Great American Rivalry Series and Plancarte took home MVP honors for his four-touchdown effort.

“He’s been doing that for us since he was a freshman,” Burbank coach Hector Valencia said. “He’s always done this, even in Pop Warner. We know he’s a special kid. We know we have to find ways to get him the ball.”

Corona was 5 of 7 passing on the game’s opening drive, finally capping it with a 20-yard touchdown to Plancarte. Corona finished 18 of 30 passing for 207 yards. In addition to throwing for scores, he also added a 54-yard rushing touchdown and totaled 89 rushing yards on 10 carries.

“Today he really showed and really took charge of our offense,” Valencia said. “He had some huge runs and was throwing dimes out there.”

Burbank recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff after Plancarte’s first score. Burbank added a 31-yard field goal from freshman Andranik Brutayan that gave the Bulldogs a double-digit lead before the Burroughs offense touched the ball.

Bears (3-7) quarterback Sean Ghaman threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nikolas Taylor on the final play of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 10-7. Ghaman also added a rushing touchdown and threw a scoring pass to Gavin Tubbs in the loss.

In the final minute of the first half, the Burbank defense came up with a fourth-down stop inside its own 1-yard line to maintain a 10-point lead going into halftime. It was the first of two times they forced a turnover on the 1-yard line in the game.

“Huge, huge, huge,” Valencia said. “We needed that. We’ve had other opportunities to make plays like that this year and didn’t always make the play. They really played for each other today.”