UPDATE: John Burroughs defeated Blair Oaks 31-18 in Saturday's Class 3 semifinal football game.
News Tribune sports reporter Tony Hawley provided updates on Twitter during the game. Read his complete game story in Sunday's News Tribune and posted online.
_
Preview article:
WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It seems a little simplistic to say the teams in today's 1 p.m. Class 3 semifinal game at John Burroughs are mirror images of each other, but the facts bear them out.
Take for example the state rankings, as the Blair Oaks Falcons (13-0) come in at second and the John Burroughs Bombers (12-1) are third.
Move on to the offense, where it's a pair of high-octane attacks - the Falcons average 54.3 points per contest and the Bombers put up 42.5.
Or how about the stingy defenses, as Blair Oaks gives up just 16.0 points per game and John Burroughs is even better at 9.9.
It even extends to the way the teams look on the field.
"We're similar in a sense that we both have fairly athletic teams - we both run fairly well at most positions," Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker said.
Put it all together and it should make for a whale of a ballgame today.
"Both teams are going to be fired-up for the game, because whoever wins goes on to the (Edward Jones) Dome," Walker said, referring to the state championship game set for Nov. 28. "Motivation won't be a problem. It will come down to who can execute."
The similarities between the teams are also shown in the eerily similar stat lines put up by their quarterbacks. Blair Oaks' Jordan Hair has completed 153-of-227 passes (67.4 percent) for 2,593 yards with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions. John Burroughs' Tyler Foote (6-2, 200, soph.) has completed 125-of-198 (63.1) for 1,965 yards with 35 scores and four interceptions.
"(Foote) throws the ball really well and does a great job of extending plays with his feet," Walker said. "... They've got two receivers that are outstanding (Ronald Smith and Chris Booker) - both of them play the ball really well, both run really well - and they've got a running back (Jake Bain) who's rushed for close to 2,000 yards. At every skill position, they've got kids that can hurt you. You would kind of expect that at this stage."
Smith (6-3, 185, sr.) has 15 touchdowns among his 38 catches that have gone for 562 yards, while Booker (6-1, 170, sr.) has scored 12 touchdowns and has team highs with 42 catches for 836 yards.
Bain (6-0, 175, soph.) has carried the ball 184 times for 1,706 yards (9.3 average) with 22 touchdowns.
"They're kind of similar to us in that they can line up in a tight-end set with two backs in the backfield, or they can spread it out with five wide. They force you to prepare for quite a few different things," Walker said. "They have several kids on the field who can make big plays, and they make them.
"We're going to have to really try and force them to earn everything that they get on offense and try to prevent the big play to the max extent possible so that we can give ourselves a chance. We want to make them literally drive the length of the field. When they make a play, make sure it's not a scoring play."
While the Bombers' offense is a quick bunch, Walker said the defense also boasts a lot of team speed.
"When I watch them on defense, I think their ball awareness as a team is really good," he added. "They have 11 guys that have an understanding of where the football is. ... That's one thing that jumps out at me."
John Burroughs presents an interesting challenge with its defense.
"They line up in a three-man front, but they're typically bringing an outside backer, so they end up in a four-man front and we're typically seeing a 4-2 box," Walker said. "Then one thing that we haven't seen a whole lot of this year is press coverage from the defensive backs. They will press, not the entire game, but they'll be pressing some off and on.
"We'll have to be able to adjust to that and block on the perimeter when we're running our option and get off the press when we're trying to run a pass route."
That press coverage will mean the ability to adjust on the fly will be big for the Falcons.
"It does alter our play-calling a little bit," Walker said. "Some of those plays, the kids have the ability that if the guy is playing off, we have signals that they'll give each other, the "Hey, throw me the ball right now,' and we'll take the 6- or 8- or 10-yard gain, whatever it ends up being. That may not be there as much, so the kids will just have to do a great job of recognizing what they're in and we'll try and counteract it."
John Burroughs has finished first or second in the state 15 different times. The Bombers won eight state championships in Class 2A - outright in 1975, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992 and 2001 and co-champion in 1980 and 1995 - and was the runner-up in 1976 and 1988. In the past six years, competing in Class 3, the Bombers have finished second five times. The only time they didn't play in the championship game in that span was when they lost in the semifinals in 2013.
"They remind me a whole lot of Rockhurst, except at the Class 3 level," Walker said. "They have a tradition-rich program that's had a ton of success and they've been dominant in their classification for several years.
"I can't imagine (today's) not going to be a Centralia-like environment where they've got a strong fan base. People are going to come out for the game and it should be a good environment."
Notes: The only blemish on John Burroughs' record is a 27-14 loss to Westminster Christian Academy in Week 7, and that's one of those "good losses" you hear so much about, as Westminster is undefeated and playing today in a Class 4 semifinal contest. ... The teams have played no common opponents. ... Walker said the Falcons have a few players who are "dinged-up," but expects they'll all be able to play. "I don't know that I could get them off the field if I told them to at this juncture," Walker said with a smile. "For the most part, Cody (Alexander) has gotten beyond his shoulder injury. Drew Boessen has been nursing a shoulder for the past couple weeks and it gave him a little bit of trouble last Saturday. We'll watch him this week and see how he does. And I can tell Chance (Cumpton) is not 100 percent (due to a foot injury) just by watching him move around. But he's fully intent on playing."
Podcast