Article: Clark Leonard/Shelby Star

Image: Brittany Randolph/Shelby Star

LAWNDALE — Two seniors made a pair of game-turning plays to make sure the Burns High football team earned its first on-field win against rival Crest since 1998, 33-12.

Darius Ramsey broke through the middle for a 19-yard touchdown to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 19-12 with 9:00.5 left.  Then, Travond Ross picked up a fumble and ran untouched 28 yards for the clinching touchdown with 5:21.7 remaining.  Brandon Littlejohn hit Trey Brooks for a 10-yard score to push it to 33-12 with Daniel Fogleman’s extra point in the final minute.

Afterwards, Ramsey was in tears.  “Tears of joy, man. (This is) something we worked for. When the season started, our goal was Crest,” Ramsey said. “We put so much work in during the offseason in the weight room. It paid off. We deserved it. If anybody deserved it, we deserved it, the class of 2012.”

Burns coach Matt Beam said some of his guys' resolve in playing on both sides of the ball was rewarded.  “Those boys just gutted it out. They were dead tired,” Beam said. “They are so tired right now they cannot even stand up.”  Beam noted what an emotional lift the win was.  “Beating Crest is not going to win us a state championship. Beating Crest is not going to win us a conference championship,” Beam said. “Beating Crest just makes my kids feel better because it’s been 13 years of Crest just beating us. Pretty handily beating us a lot of times. There’s been a lot of stuff that’s gone on that just hurt my kids.”

Crest coach Mark Barnes credited Burns' physical approach.

“They’re a really good football team, and they were physical enough this year. They weren’t physical enough last year when they played us,” Barnes said. “It is what it is. We’ll be a good football team before it’s over.”  Barnes said he didn't think the Bulldogs' final touchdown was necessary.  “I don’t know why they felt they needed one more at the end with one minute left,” Barnes said. “You know, those things will come back to get you later.”

Burns defensive lineman Devonte "Tank" Ramseur was removed from Friday's game after an unsportsmanlike penalty in the second half, but Beam said he couldn't comment on whether Ramseur would miss a week because of it.

Scoring picked up in the second half after Burns led 7-0 through two quarters.  Crest got on the board with an 8-yard P.J. Brooks-to-Josh Mitchell connection but missed the extra point to leave it at 7-6 in the Bulldogs’ favor.  Elijah Brown’s second touchdown catch of the evening off a Littlejohn pass went for 31 yards as he broke two tackles to push it to 13-6 for Burns.  Brooks added a 30-yard touchdown run to cut it to 13-12 before Burns' late surge.  A 42-yard connection from Burns quarterback Littlejohn to Brown provided the only scoring of the first half. The play came with 7:36.8 remaining in the first quarter.

Facing a third and 16 at the Crest 42, Littlejohn found Brown inside the 10. Brown initially bobbled the ball but stayed focused to secure the catch and run the final five yards into the end zone. Fogleman’s extra point made it 7-0 in the Bulldogs’ favor, a lead they would hold for the rest of the first half.  “I went until I couldn’t go no more,” Brown said of his determination to get the victory.  Brown finished with six receptions for 114 yards and the two scores. Ramsey finished with 98 yards rushing.  “We feel big about it. It just took us forever to beat them,” Brown said.  Burns also helped its cause with a second-quarter goal line stand, keeping the Chargers out of the end zone four straight plays from the 2-yard line or closer.  Both teams moved the ball in the first half but suffered from a steady diet of penalties and one turnover each in the first two quarters.  Brooks, a freshman quarterback who took most of the snaps for Crest, drew high praise from Barnes.  “I was worried about P.J. coming into the game. I need to be worrying about everybody else and need not to be worried about him,” Barnes said. “He played good enough for us to win probably.”

Burns had previously taken a 2005 forfeit win against Crest after the Chargers' victories that season were forfeited due to an ineligible player. But the Bulldogs had last beaten Crest on the field in 1998.