Army vs Navy; Burroughs vs MICDS; the Rivalries in Sports Means Everything

The Burroughs/MICDS sports rivalry is one of the longest continuing series in football, and for that matter a wide variety of sports.

It makes no matter if the match is chess, checkers or field hockey or golf, the battle is always of epic proportions. North vs South; Army vs Navy, Harvard vs Yale; take your pick.

Students, family, faculty, alumni all take this stuff seriously. A win over the other can make or break the year.

Tell that to the MICDS Rams as they trudged off the field after a 55-7 shellacking by the Bombers last fall. Ezekiel Elliott, Burroughs most ballyhooed back in history had a field day, rushing 12 times for 222 yards and 6 TDs. A pair were called back. He even scored on a twisting, turning 65-yard punt return. The Rams are glad, Elliott is taking his abundant talents to the Ohio State University.

As one Rams player said trudging off the field, “Just wait, we’ll be back again some day.” That was little consolation in this decisive loss to their bitter rivals.

Sometime, ask long time coaches Jim Lemen, JBS and Ron Holtman, MICDS what the rivalry meant to them.

Changing sides

Word comes in former Burroughs head coach, retired Todd Small will join the MICDS football staff next year as offensive coordinator.

Here’s what else happened between the Rams and the Bombers this year in other sports:

Field Hockey

On September 22, Burroughs blanked the host Rams, 1-0. Katherine Fox scored the lone tally in the Bombers victory. MICDS went onto a 16-6 season while the Bombers finished 15-7.

Boys Soccer

This was a very good season for John Burroughs. The Bombers edged their rivals the Rams 1-0 behind the solo goal of Danny Nightingale. Chris Wetzel recorded the shutout in goal. Burroughs finished 15-6 on the season and MICDS was 8-12.

Volleyball

Score this one for the Rams. They hosted Burroughs Sept. 22 and won in straight sets 25-20 and 25-15. MICDS had a 16-12 season while Burroughs finished 11-14.

Ice Hockey

On November 20, the Rams out-skated their rivals Burroughs 4-1 at the Hardee’s Ice Complex in Chesterfield. Charlie Combs paced the victorious Rams with 3 goals.

Basketball

The boys and girls teams will both meet up in double headers January 11 at MICDS then a return engagement February 15 at Washington University. This is always an evening of great entertainment. Burroughs boys remains unbeaten heading into New Years. The MICDS girls are off to another fast start.

The tradition all changes when Burroughs brings off the wraps of their new on campus athletic complex soon.

The expansive seating in the new field house will allow Burroughs to host big events like district basketball and of course, their showdowns with rival MICDS.

One thing to count on, whenever Burroughs and MICDS clash in anything, the crowds are always large and loud. This year’s matches coming up in basketball, then baseball and spring soccer will be much the same.