John Burroughs Loses Another Heart-Breaker at the Show-Me Bowl Championships

It was the Nightmare on North Broadway the Sequel for the John Burroughs football team.

The Bombers lost in the final seconds of the 2010 Class 3 state championship game to Richmond 21-20 at the Edward Jones Dome.

John Burroughs, despite having just eight seniors, earned a trip back to the state title game this fall and the final results were eerily similar.

The Bombers had a 14-13 lead until the final two minutes when Wildcat quarterback Evan Gruener scored on a 31-yard run on a quarterback keeper.

But the never say die Bombers looked like they were going to make some drama themselves as Davie Holmes hit Peter Schnuck for a 40-yard pass, Foye Oluokun for a 13-yarder and Zeke Elliott for a 12-yarder. The Bombers were on the Logan-Rogersville 15-yard line when Elliott fumbled when it appeared as if he were headed for the end zone. The Wildcats recovered with 25 seconds left and escaped with their first state championship, 21-14.

"We had been throwing it well but we had two timeouts left and I went for the run with Zeke," John Burroughs coach Gus Frerotte said. "I figured they would have just one guy in the box and that if we could block him we could have a big play. I didn't see what happened. They must have grabbed or punched the ball away."

Instead of lining up for a two-point conversion, which Frerotte said he would have tried, the Bombers had to watch their opponents celebrate for the second year in a row.

"I thought he was headed for the end zone," Wildcat senior Dylan Cole said of the Elliott run. "I don't know who knocked it out but Destyn Embry recovered it and I couldn't be happier."

The game had several swings. It was tied at halftime as Elliott scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter and Joe Zimmer answered with a 3-yard touchdown run on fourth down in the third quarter.

The Wildcats took a 13-7 lead after Zimmer scored on a 27-yard run on another fourth down situation in the third quarter.

John Burroughs had some great chances to score in the second half. It had it first-and-goal at the five but threw three incomplete passes and then Rushil Sheth missed a 22-yard field goal. The Bombers got it back inside the 10 after a 52-yard pass from  Holmes to Nate Adams on the first play of the fourth quarter. But one run and three incomplete passes later and the ball was turned over on downs.

The Bombers also had a long touchdown pass from Holmes to Oluokun called back by an offensive pass interference.

Despite numerous penalities and missed chances, the Bombers found themselves ahead 14-13 with 4:11 to play after another short touchdown run by Elliott.

But they may have scored too early as there was plenty of time for the Wildcats and they took advantage, aided by a pass interference penalty on a third and eight.

"The kids prepared well, played hard but I think the difference was the turnovers and penalties," Frerotte said. "You can't have the negative plays, the pass interference penalties, the false start penalties in a game like this. The guys fought through it but came up a little short. Our focus all year has been to win the next play. The next play now is going to be next year and the guys returning will remember the feeling they have now."

Bear Kaminer had an outstanding final high school game as he had a sack, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

"Last year we had such high expectations," Kaminer said. "We felt like we let everyone down. This year we established a new identity and had a great year. The returning guys need to take this loss and get better. I look forward to watching them next year."

Elliott, Oluokon and Christian Bledsoe are among the top returning players for the Bombers.

Elliott finished the game with 150 yards rushing on 21 carries and the two touchdowns. Oluokon had four receptions for 63 yards as did Schnuck, who also returns.

Bledsoe had an amazing game on defense with 17 tackles and a forced fumble.

Zimmer had an outstanding all around game for the Wildcats. He rushed for 164 yards and the two touchdowns and also had 13 tackles to lead the way defensively.

"I thought we would need to score a lot of points to win this game," Logan Rogersville coach Doug Smith said. "John Burroughs is so explosive. It was a different game than I expected. We bent a lot but we played really well in the red zone."

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