Frerotte Finds Trust In Burroughs Players In Debut Win

When he played quarterback for the Washington Redskins, Gus Frerotte earned the nickname, "In Gus, We Trust." Now as a first-year coach at John Burroughs, Frerotte offered this monicker.

"In the Bombers, We Trust," Frerotte said after youthful Burroughs built a 37-14 lead and held on for a 37-30 victory over Pembroke Hill in the season opener at Leland Field on Saturday.

Frerotte's trust includes junior runningback sensation Ezekiel "Zeke" Elliott, who rushed for 217 yards on 21 attempts and scored two touchdowns on runs of two and 47 yards. Frerotte's trust is growing in his two quarterbacks, senior Davey Holmes and junior Peter Schnuck, as well as his two junior wide receivers in Nathan Adams and Foye Oluokun. 

Adams caught a four-yard score from Schnuck while Oluokun caught two touchdown passes of nine and 21 yards from Holmes. Holmes completed six of nine passes for 62 yards and one interception while Schnuck was five of 12 for 73 yards.

Frerotte's trust also includes Holmes as the placekicker. Holmes opened the scoring with a 24-yard field goal and converted four of five extra points. The Bombers totaled 415 yards of offense (275 rushing, 135 passing). 

"It was about what I expected," Frerotte said. "I knew the starters were pretty good. I wasn't sure what they (backups) were going to do when the first team went out (in fourth quarter). We have to have the backups ready to play. We weathered the storm and held on."

Frerotte said the quarterback battle is still a battle. "Each did good things," Frerotte said. Each made mistakes. The only way they're going to learn is by playing. They've got to learn on the go."

Frerotte said he knows Elliott's play is the key to the offense. "He has the total package," Frerotte said. "He can catch the ball. He can run it. He can do whatever we need him to do. He can block. He's a very unselfish player."

But Frerotte added one thing about the 6-foot, 187-pound Elliott. "He knows he needs to get in better shape, too," Frerotte said.

Elliott credits his offensive line - junior center Griff Palan, junior right guard Solo Ceesay, senior right tackle Danny Yee, senior left guard Bear Kaminer and junior left tackle Jimmy Fort - for his success.

Elliott also believes he is not a one-man show. He pointed out the success of Adams and Oluokun at wide receivers as well as the quarterback play in Holmes and Schnuck. 

"We have a lot of weapons," Elliott said. "They can make plays."
Elliott said he isn't make any promises of returning to the Class 3 State Championship at the Edward Jones Dome, but the talent level is there as well underclassmen who saw plenty of action in 2010.

The season opener shows there is room for improvement. Next up is the Metro Conference opener at Principia at 1 p.m. on Sept. 3. The Bombers will play without Palan, who was ejected from the game late in the fourth quarter. An ejection means the player can't play the following game.

"We started out well," Elliott said. "We need to play four quarters. We need to come out and finish strong. I just want the team to be ready for districts. We definitely have a playoff-caliber team."  

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