GLENDALE — Through missed scoring opportunities and turnovers, the first half of Thursday night’s Pacific League game against visiting Burroughs High was a case of the Crescenta Valley football team beating itself.
For the final 24 minutes of the contest, however, Burroughs running back Zander Anding proved to be more than capable of finishing the task himself, running for 249 yards and a pair of touchdowns after halftime to seal a 35-22 victory for the league-unbeaten Indians at Moyse Field.
“He’s legit and he’s really good and they block really well for him,” Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling said of Anding, who rushed for a total of 368 yards and three scores on the night, his fourth straight game with more than 300 yards on the ground.
On the season, Anding had amassed 1,901 yards and 19 touchdowns.
On the very first play of the Indians’ possession following an eight-play, 72-yard Crescenta Valley march to pull within 28-22 on a two-yard Marro Lee run with 4:58 left in the game, Anding ripped off a backbreaking 65-yard run down the right sideline for the final margin of victory.
“I was tired, I was completely out of breath, but the team’s energy just kept me going,” said Anding, whose team, ranked 10th in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division, improved to 4-3 and 4-0 in league. “Once again, the linemen didn’t stop, they just gave me a wide-open hole and I hit it.”
