John Burroughs Plays For State Championship Again

The holiday season has started early this year in Rogersville, Mo.

The Logan-Rogersville football team has made it to the state championship game for the first time in school history. The Wildcats will play John Burroughs Saturday at 3:15 for the Class 3 championship at the Edward Jones Dome.

"The city is extremely excited," Logan-Rogersville coach Doug Smith said. "It is like we are celebrating Christmas early."

This is certainly unchartered territory for the school located near Springfield.

"Four years ago was the first time we were in the state playoffs," Smith said. "The last three years we have been knocked out by Cassville in the quarterfinals. One of those games was decided by one point and Cassville went on to win state two of those three years. We finally got over the Cassville hump this year."

Logan-Rogersville defeated Cassville 28-7 in the quarterfinals and then beat last year's state champion, Richmond, 48-28 in the semifinals Saturday.

"We have 21 seniors and a very talented group," Smith said. "We felt that this could be our year if we went out and played the way we are capable of playing."

The Wildcats have lost just one game this season, 41-6 to Bolivar.

"We were even stats-wise in that game," Smith said. "They scored right at the end of the half with the score 7-6 and then took the kickoff to start the second half for a touchdown."

Logan-Rogersville followed that loss with seven straight victories, all by 20 or more points.

The Wildcats are led by the dynamic duo of senior running backs Dylan Cole and Joe Zimmer. They have combined for almost 3,400 yards rushing.

It sets up an interesting contrast of styles Saturday against the Bombers, who are explosive both with the run and the pass.

"We haven't really played against a team like them," Smith said. "Most teams around here play power football. This is going to be a major challenge for us. (Zeke) Elliott is a very, very special player and they have other explosive players. We have to keep those guys in front of us and not give up the big play."

Smith feels that time of possession is going to be a key to success for his teams.

"We have to control the ball, get first downs and make sure we get it in the end zone and keep the ball away from them," he said.

John Burroughs features some of the top skill players in the state including Elliott, who leads the St. Louis area with 40 touchdowns. He has averaged almost nine yards a carry in rushing for 1,652 yards. Quarterback Davey Holmes has completed 137 of 208 passes (65.9 percent) for 2186 yards. He has thrown for 32 touchdown passes and has been intercepted just eight times.

The Bombers look forward to erasing the memories of last year's championship game. They led 17-0 against Richmond only to allowed two fourth quarter touchdowns, one in the final seconds in a 21-20 loss.

"This is an awesome opportunity for us," senior linebacker Bear Kaminer said. "This is a new team and a different team. Those of us who were on the field at the end of last year are going to play with a lot of inspiration."

Unlike Logan-Rogersville, who returned 10 offensive starters and have 11 seniors on defense, John Burroughs is vastly an inexperienced team with a first-year coach, Gus Frerotte.

"We lost 18 seniors and nobody gave us a chance this year," said Frerotte, who was the offensive coordinator last year. "But these guys played good fundamental football and gave their hearts every game."