John Burroughs Going Back to the Dome

"The Fun Bunch" might be the proper nickname for the John Burroughs' defense.

And it is a bunch which will be making a return trip to the Edward Jones Dome Saturday as the Bomber defense keyed a 39-14 victory over School of the Osage in a Class 3 semifinal Saturday at John Burroughs.

"This is a defense which is building momentum the past couple of weeks, especially in the playoffs," Bomber senior linebacker Bear Kaminer said. "And we are doing this against teams which are averaging 47 points a game. A fast defense can be a successful defense in high school and this is a fiery group of guys."

The starting defense was dominant against the Indians. Osage scored the first points of the game on special teams and the last points of the game against the Bomber reserves in the final minutes.

But other than that the Indians were completely thwarted. They did not have their first first down, other than by penalty, until the final two minutes of the first half.

"We are not the biggest and we are not the oldest," said senior linebacker Sam Hefler, who was the only returning starter on defense along with Kaminer. "But these guys on defense want to hit and they fly to the ball. Our defensive coach, Mark Nicholas, really does a great job of preparing us."

The Indian defense stopped John Burroughs on the opening drive of the game and then blocked a Trevor Bain punt. Jacob Wermuth picked it up and ran 20 yards for a touchdown just two and a half minutes into the game.

Zeke Elliott, who rushed for 110 yards on 20 carries, scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half on runs of 67, 12 and two yards.

But the score which put John Burroughs on top for good was actually scored by the defense as Solo Ceesay and Xavier Bledsoe helped tackle Osage quarterback Bo Dean in the end zone.

Davey Holmes had a big second half for the Bombers. He finished the game 14-of-20 for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Foye Oluokun was on the receiving end of two of the touchdown passes and Nathan Adams one.

The Bomers, who lost a heart-breaker to Richmond in the state championship game last year, will play Logan-Rogersville in the Class 3 title game Saturday at 3:15 at the Edward Jones Dome. Logan-Rogersville knocked off Richmond 48-28 in the other Class 3 semifinal Saturday.

"I am so proud of these guys," said first-year coach Gus Frerotte, who was an offensive coordinator last year. "Nobody gave us a chance after losing 18 seniors. But this is what can happen when you play good fundamental ball like we have been playing.

"The defense was lights out today. It was fun to watch them play football."