Burleson takes back the boot, snaps Centennial’s winning streak in rivalry series
Burleson Centennial had won the past three meetings in ‘The Battle of the Boot’ series with cross-town rival Burleson and led the series 5-4.
But after what Burleson sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola did to the Spartans on Friday night, the boot trophy might stay in the Elks’ trophy case for a few more years.
Raiola, No. 33 in the Star-Telegram Top 100 players, accounted for four touchdowns as Burleson hammered Centennial 40-13 at Burleson ISD Stadium in a game shortened due to a power outage.
The game was called with 4:54 left in the fourth quarter after workers spent 20 minutes trying to get the east-side stadium lights to come back on.
“It was fun,” said Raiola, who has offers from seven schools already including Georgia. “There was a lot of emotion to start the game, but we had a great game plan and our guys were ready to come out and do what we had to do.”
Burleson (2-0) took advantage of a recovered onside kick by Kyndall Cassidy on the opening kickoff and a Centennial fumble to build a quick 14-0 lead.
Raiola tossed a 17-yard scoring pass to Luke Peterson (No. 57 in Top 100) to open the scoring. Then after Jaden Balina-Ayers pounced on a Spartan fumble at the Centennial 45, Raiola snuck it in from a yard out to give Burleson a 14-0 lead with 4:21 left in the first quarter.
“He’s only a sophomore by what they say,” said Burleson coach Jon Kitna. “He’s a grown man and he’s been a grown man since he was 12 years old. He’s just a pro at whatever he does and the best things about him are the things that nobody sees.
“He’s a fabulous son, friend, student in the classroom, leader for us and he just enjoys competing and seeing his teammates be at their best. On top of that he’s uber-talented and we’re just trying to stay out of the way to be honest.”
The Elks defense was solid all night holding a run-heavy Centennial squad to 11 yards rushing on 14 carries in the first half. Centennial (1-1) finished with 74 rushing yards on 23 carries and 154 total yards to 393 for Burleson.
Peterson’s first of two interceptions came with 9:19 left in the second quarter. Eight plays later, Raiola executed a perfect play-action fake that left Kam Thomas, Jr. wide open for a 5-yard TD and a 20-0 Burleson lead.
“This is my first time playing defense so I didn’t know what to expect,” said Peterson, who also led the Elks with four catches for 44 yards and two scores . “The coaches have put me in the right position and I was able to make some plays.”
Raiola did a little bit of everything with eight rushes for 21 yards, 14 of 19 passing for 153 yards, one catch for 20 yards and even had a 77-yard punt.
A Raiola lateral to Drue Saenz and throw back to Raiola resulted in a 20-yard gain to the Centennial 20. On the next play, Reece Williams darted up the middle for the score and a 27-0 lead with 2:44 left in the half.
Centennial found a spark late in the first half behind quarterback Phillip Hamilton (No. 61). Hamilton tossed a 24-yard scoring pass to David Clerk with 1:08 left in the first half then guided the Spartans to a score on their first possession of the second half to cut the lead to 27-13 with 5:01 left in the third quarter.
Hamilton looked to have injured his left arm or wrist on a QB sneak just before Elijah Zeh punched it in from the one. Hamilton did not return.
It was all Burleson after that. Raiola hit Peterson with a 13-yard scoring pass, then Peterson’s second interception set up a 17-yard scoring run by Quintlon Ivory to give the Elks a 40-13 lead with 11:04 left in the game.
Burleson’s Landon Young recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and the Elks ran out the rest of the 11 minutes on the clock. Burleson held on to the ball until the 4:54 mark when the lights literally went out.