John Burroughs Coach Gus Frerotte says his football squad is ready for their annual rivalry against MICDS at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 10. To Frerotte, the Bombers and MICDS are as hot as the recent 100 degree temperatures.
As expected, the Bombers trounced host Principia, 57-0, on a steamy hot Saturday morning - a game that was played earlier in the day because of the heat. Both Burroughs and MICDS enter with 2-0 records.
Burroughs defeated the Rams, 21-0, in last year's contest.
"Last year was last year and this year will be a little different story," Frerotte said. "You can go back 10 years and see what happened. This year is a different year."
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MICDS, coming off a 5-5 season, is stronger while Burroughs is replacing 18 players from last season's Class 3 state runner-up squad that finished 14-1. "They have a lot of good players," Frerotte said. "They can beat you in a lot of ways. You are what you are. You just hope you can compete at the highest level.
"We'll make it a good go," said Bombers junior runningback Ezekiel Elliott: "There'll be a lot of hype. We just have to play like it's another game."
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The Bombers enter the MICDS game without starting right tackle Nick Bratkowski, a 6-foot-2 1/2, 246-pound sophomore, who suffered a left knee injury in the second half against Principia. "You talk about MICDS being a big team," Frerotte said. "We just lost a big guy. It's going to come down to is our front five against their front five. The game will be decided up front and we'll see how it works out."
With that mind, the game in the trenches could mean a big day for Elliott. Against Principia (0-2), he gained 129 yards on eight carries and scored three touchdowns on runs of 77, 7 and 1 yard. He caught two passes for 29 yards and one touchdown of 16 yards from senior quarterback Davey Holmes.
"Zeke; obviously everybody knows about him," Frerotte said. "He's a very formidable player. We're lucky to have him."
Or Burroughs' two-headed monster at quarterback with Holmes and junior Peter Schnuck. Holmes was five of 10 for 106 yards and three touchdowns and one interception while Schnuck completed six of 10 passes for 110 yards and one touchdown.
Junor wide receiver Foye Oluokun caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Holmes. Senior wide receiver Nathan Adams had three catches for 58 yards and one touchdown for 15 yards from Schnuck. Junior wide receiver Andrew Bartnett caught a nine-yard touchdown from Holmes.
Backup runningback Cruz Riley gained 42 yards on nine attempts and one touchown of two yards."We're finding out which one can do certain things - what they're good at and what they're not so good," Frerotte said. "We're still mixing it up - and that's good."
The ballhawking, opportunistic defense forced four turnovers - interceptions from Adams, Travor Bain, Solo Ceesay and Xavier Bledsoe. "That's the one thing we teach is to go after the ball," Frerotte said.
Burroughs, though had three touchdowns called back because of penalties. Other than that, Frerotte said he was pleased with the effort.
"It was a good game for us," Frerotte said. "We played pretty well." And next week? "We want to take the next step, Frerotte said.
"Everybody will have to step up and make plays. Everybody will have to step up and have to have a big game."
Game on: MICDS at Burroughs Saturday, kickoff is 2:30 p.m.