Students hold court

Alex Abbasi admits that his high school career has not been the most traditional. After spending his first two years at Burbank High School, Abbasi spent his junior year in Kansas before returning to Burbank for 12th grade.

With so much travel, Abbasi was skeptical that his peers would choose him as Burbank High’s 2008 homecoming king.

“I didn’t know I was going to get this,” said Abbasi, 18, surrounded by hundreds at Memorial Field at John Burroughs High School. “But I kept in touch with friends and came back. It’s pretty exciting.”

The annual rivalry between Burbank and Burroughs was renewed Friday night, with the Bulldogs besting their crosstown adversary, 58-22.

But the game was mere window- dressing to the festivities that accompanied the pregame hype. Fireworks punched the air while homecoming royalty was crowned in the middle of the football field.

Abbasi was joined by Burbank High’s homecoming queen, Elizabeth Johnston. The two sat in a 1962 Corvette convertible as a throng of fans dressed mostly in the school’s official blue roared with delight as they inched around the track.

Elizabeth, who plans to study either political science or kinesiology at a University of California school in the fall, was delighted to be joined by Abbasi, who wants to concentrate on business or international relations at either UCLA or UC Irvine.

“I’m nervous, but excited as well,” said Elizabeth, 17.

“It’s OK, though, because Alex will calm me down.”

The two waved as football players used a few remaining minutes before the game to practice drills.

Across the field was Burroughs’ royal court, driven in a 1969 Corvette convertible.

Paige Anderson, a 17-year-old cheerleader who was crowned homecoming queen, reveled in her selection, which she said her friends helped engineer.

“They all tried to campaign for me,” said Paige, who expects to concentrate on communications at UC Santa Barbara or Sonoma State. “We’re all really excited.”

Homecoming king Bob Farmer, 18, said he was “ecstatic” yet befuddled as to how he was selected.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Farmer, dressed in a suit and a crown. “I kind of have a closed group of friends, but this is one of the best things.”