East Allegheny leans on Banks to defeat Burrell

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 20, 2017 | 11:57 PM

Logan Bitar got plenty of work Friday night when he and his Burrell teammates hosted Class 2A No. 5 East Allegheny in a nonconference football game Friday night.

Despite 127 yards on 31 carries from the junior running back, Burrell fell to the Wildcats, 27-6.

Burrell coach Dave Bellinotti was determined to ride his workhorse back, he said.

“He ran really hard,” Bellinotti said. “We had chances. I thought we had some opportunity to move the ball. He ran hard. The line opened up some cracks for him. I'm not surprised; I had a feeling we could run the ball tonight.”

Burrell (1-8) was overwhelmed by the East Allegheny (6-2) passing attack as senior quarterback Tamaine Underwood completed 16 of 23 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. West Virginia recruit T.J. Banks led all receivers with five catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. He also scored on a 1-yard run.

“He's hard to cover,” East Allegheny coach Dom Pecora said of Banks. “You better be pretty special to cover him man-to-man. If we can protect and you play him man we will get it to him. He's special. He's got to touch the ball. We make sure he does.”

Burrell kicked off the scoring after forcing East Allegheny to punt from its own end zone on their first possession. The Bucs began at the East Allegheny 25 and on third-and-goal from the 1, Seth Tatrn plowed in on a quarterback sneak to give Burrell a 6-0 lead.

East Allegheny responded immediately with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by an 18-yard pass from Underwood to Banks that tied the game at 6.

Burrell entered halftime down 12-6, but East Allegheny marched 68 yards on 11 plays to open the second half. The drive ended with Underwood finding sophomore receiver Tyler Padezan for a 27-yard score. East Allegheny went for the two-point conversion and was successful as Banks pulled in the Underwood pass to make the score 20-6.

Burrell found some life on the ensuing drive, though. Starting at their own 33, the Bucs marched to the East Allegheny 2, courtesy of nine straight runs by Bitar. The drive stalled as Burrell faced a fourth and goal from the 8, and Tatrn was sacked by Banks.

Pecora had high praise for Bitar.

“That kid runs hard,” Pecora said. “Their O-line is good. We were missing five starters on defense tonight, and it showed. They ran the ball down our throat. That goal line stand we had down there really bailed us out. He's tough as nails. If I could think of a classic Burrell running back, Burrell kid, he runs like a Burrell kid. He's tough and hard-nosed. He doesn't go down on the first hit.”

DJ Vasil is a freelance writer.

Tags: Burrell, East Allegheny