HS FOOT: The Big Game in Burbank is bigger than usual

Burbank (7-2, 5-1) and arch-rival Burroughs of Burbank (7-2, 6-0) play for the Pacific League football championship Friday at 7 p.m. in the annual Big Game, and there is a lot more at stake than usual, as Burbank has not won a league title since 1972 and Burroughs has won just one since 1981.

Streets will be closed, and a crowd of 12,000 is expected with both teams celebrating homecoming.

"The city of Burbank can't wait," Burroughs coach Keith Knoop said. "Everyone couldn't care less about the other nine games, just this one. If every game was like this, it would be like high school football in a small town in Texas."

The pressure is on Burroughs quarterback Derek Cwik, who is expected to make his first start as a replacement for Lucas Yanez, who is doubtful because of a shoulder injury sustained last week. Yanez is wearing a sling on his arm and has not been medically cleared, while Cwik has completed a total of nine passes in three appearances this season.

"It's definitely going to be a handful for a young man to start for the first time in front of a crowd like that, but Derek is smart and he knows the offense," Burroughs coach Keith Knoop said.

Burbank first-year coach Hector Valencia, 34, was born two years after Burbank's last league championship.

"Whoever wins Friday is the league champion and goes to the playoffs as the top seed from our league, so there is a lot on the line," Valencia said.

-- Gerry Gittelson