His strong play last season willed his team to its first Super Bowl appearance since 1984. That was the year running back Richard Sass scored a school-record 32 touchdowns to go along with 1,842 yards. Sass reached that mark as a finely tuned senior; Burton missed that mark by two touchdowns as a sophomore. In fact, Burton became the youngest player in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. Not even Richard Fahey, who holds the school’s all-time season rushing record with 2,032 yards in 1975, hit the 1,000-yard mark at such a young age.
Blue Hills coach Ed Catabia, who has coached the Warriors since 1980 and watched Sass set the record in 1984, sees striking similarities between the running backs.
“Sass was one of the toughest runners I’ve ever coached at Blue Hills. He was the type to run you over and lay you out if you were in front of him - no matter what,’’ said Catabia, who believes a hard-nosed approach is also Burton’s strength.
“Burton and [Sass] are the same exact runners. [Burton] never complains about getting hit, who’s hitting him, or how hard he has to go through the line, and that’s his strength when running the ball. “He is big and powerful and will flat out knock you down if you are in his way.’’
Burton’s toughness is more ingrained than something he has learned.
“I never get scared [running the ball],’’ he said. “One thing about me when I run is I never try to evade you. If you’re going to hit me, I’m going to hit you back. I never just stand up and let someone hit me. I just hit them first.’’
This season he has already accumulated 531 yards (5.3 per carry) and 11 touchdowns in just three games for the 3-0 Warriors.
Burton’s surge has attracted quite a following.
His former Randolph-Holbrook Pop Warner coach Bob Sass, the brother of current record holder Richard, has been to Blue Hills’s early games and expects this will be the season his brother’s long-standing record is broken.
