Burroughs, Elliot Too Much for MRH Football

A game that both John Burroughs and Maplewood looked forward to playing, pitting two top teams in the state in the last regular game of the season, turned out to have less drama once it started.

(One of the more exciting moments for MRH fans was watching Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel's helicopter take off after a quick visit to watch his recruit, Antar Thompson, play.)

When Burroughs’ Ezekiel Elliott scored on a 92-yard kickoff return to start the game, it was apparent the Blue Devils would have a hard time containing him. Number 3 in state in Class 2 MRH lost to number 1 in state in Class 3 John Burroughs 34-6. The Bombers win leaves them 8-0 after the regular season. The Blue Devils finish at 7-2.

See more game photos at Maplewood-Brentwood Patch Facebook.

Elliot finished the game with 28 carries totaling 211 yards.

MRH coach Rich Nixon said the game actually played closer than the score. Mistakes made the difference for the Blue Devils, he said. The Bombers did a good job eliminating their mistakes and MRH made too many.

“Playing a well-rounded, well-coached football team, as Burroughs is, they have a lot of athletes, a lot of explosive weapons, you can’t make mistakes.”

The Bombers scored again in the second quarter on a 21-yard pass to senior, Foye Oluokun to make the score 14-0. After an 80-yard drive, MRH scored on an 18-yard Kahlid Hagens pass to senior, John Dudley to make it 14-6 at the half.

Oluokun scored again for the Bombers after junior, Trevor Bain forced a Hagens fumble. Elliot scored a second time in the third quarter on a 2-yard run in. Junior, Nicholas Duncan made the final scoring carry to make the final 34-6.

MRH coach Rich Nixon said this is the part of the season they’ve practiced and worked for.

"At this point we finish the regular season at 7-2 and now the focus is the next portion of our season, and really the goal is to be 1-0 at the end of next week,” he said.

Both MRH and John Burroughs play their first district game next Friday night. The seeding for the district tournaments will take place after all the regular-season games are finished, tomorrow.