John Heffernan is amazed at how far Burbank High's football team has come in his 10 years as head coach.

There were the two 1-9 seasons at the start.

There were the lonely Saturday afternoons playing in front of small, heat-baked crowds on a pockmarked home field.

There were nearly three seasons of playing all road games because Burbank's dilapidated facilities were unusable.

But things have changed. Home is definitely where the heart, and wins, are.

On Friday, Burbank defeated McClatchy 48-14 in its sixth consecutive home game in the Titans' new $9.3 million stadium. The victory secured at least a tie for Burbank's second consecutive Metro Conference championship and third in five seasons.

The seventh consecutive home game will be this Friday, a homecoming affair against winless Kennedy. No. 8 is guaranteed for the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs the following week.

"The season's been exhausting," Heffernan said. "But it's also been good for us. The stadium has created a new atmosphere on campus. The students are coming out to games, the band is coming out and playing, and teachers are coming out to support us or work the games.

"It's created a great family atmosphere that is going to help us to build some tradition."

The tradition is already established on the football field.

After struggling for years, Burbank is playing with a consistency of success unseen in years by a Metro Conference school.

The Titans have enjoyed seven consecutive winning seasons (54-26 in that span) and will be in the playoffs for the seventh year in a row.

Should Burbank beat Kennedy as expected, the Titans will finish 9-1 and 7-0 in league, the best regular-season marks under Heffernan.

"We've always preached to the kids that it's not about winning," Heffernan said. "The emphasis is on the process. How to do things the right way: The offseason conditioning. How you practice. How you study in the classroom. You do that, and you are going to win."

Burbank is doing it with the latest group of stars: explosive, hard-hitting defenders like Maile Fainu (14.5 sacks), Jacarri Brown, Kareem Green, Richard McGee and Benjamin Jones; and talented skill players such as running back Isaiah Williams (1,438 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns), quarterback Reymond Norton and wide receiver Desean Ellingberg.

Norton had a breakout performance against McClatchy, completing 7 of 8 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 16 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns. When Williams went down with an ankle injury early, Keith Marcus came on to rush for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Heffernan expects a handful of his top players to move on to the next level.

"The big thing for us is to get them to college, get a better life, even if they don't necessarily wind up playing football," Heffernan said.

Tow-ing the line – Union Mine's Sean Tow is a special player.

The 160-pound dynamo, a Bee All-Metro running back as a sophomore last season, had another big night Friday in a 35-21 loss to Vista del Lago at Folsom High School. He rushed for 242 yards and three touchdowns, including a 90-yarder, on 25 carries.

Entering this Friday's game at River City, Tow is No. 2 in the state in rushing with 2,002 yards.

"Sean is special because of his vision and his instincts, things you can't teach," said Union Mine coach Dave Johnson. "But our line is quietly doing a good job."

Center Andrew Middleton (5-foot-9, 240 pounds) and tackle Chris Vasquez (6-1, 230), returning All-Sierra Valley Conference players, are the senior anchors.

Guards Nick Ravetto (5-9, 175) and Robert Gonzales (6-3, 219), tackle Augie Ahuna (6-2, 203) and tight end Jake Zuniga (6-4, 230) are juniors playing beyond their years.

Add 6-2, 225-pound fullback Jeremy Hernandez to the mix and the 5-6 Tow often is hard for defenders to find coming through the line.

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