CLASS 3 DIST 2 CHAMP: Elliott, John Burroughs rout Soldan, advance to quarterfinals
By Mike Elder | STLhighschoolsports.com | Posted: Monday, November 5
BALLWIN ? After losing the last two Class 3 state championship games by eight points total, John Burroughs is on a mission this year to bring home the big prize.
?Most of the people on the team know how it feels to walk out of the dome not with that championship (trophy),? senior running back Ezekiel Elliott said. ?We use that every day to drive us to work harder.?
The Bombers are one step closer to getting the crown they covet so much. Led by Elliott, who rushed 11 times for 57 yards and four touchdowns and had four receptions for 109 yards and two scores, Burroughs hammered Soldan 50-6 Monday night in a District 2 title game at Parkway South.
With the win, John Burroughs (11-0, No. 1 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings) advances to Saturday?s quarterfinal round. The Bombers will play at Park Hills Central at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that game will battle the winner of the Eldon-Monett game the following Saturday in the semis.
Elliott played a key role in getting the Bombers to the state title games the last two years, and he?s stood out again this fall. He dominated against Soldan, scoring on runs of 4, 2, 17 and 3 yards in the contest and on passes of 46 and 52 yards from Burroughs quarterback Nicholas Duncan.
?We knew that they were going to try to load the box, so we decided that we were going to try to attack through the air,? said Elliott, who also had an interception and a fumble recovery on defense. ?It worked out pretty well. The first (touchdown) pass they weren?t expecting, and they had me on one-on-one coverage. On the second one, I just leaped out and was open -- it was like a last resort -- but everything worked well.?
