Maryville, Burroughs live up to rankings

All season long, the Class 3 state-wide media rankings have had John Burroughs at No. 1 and Maryville at No. 2.

Appropriately, these are the two teams who will battle it out for the Class 3 state title Friday at 1 p.m. in the Edward Jones Dome located in the heart of downtown St. Louis.

Both teams carry 14-0 records into play and have rarely been tested throughout the season.

They are also regulars on the state's grandest stage over the last five years.

John Burroughs, a private school located in the affluent neighboring St. Louis suburb of Ladue, is making its third straight appearance in the Class 3 title game after losing each of the last two years to Richmond (2010) and Logan-Rogersville (2011) by a combined eight points.

Maryville is back in the state title game for the third time in the last five years.

Each of its previous two appearances in 2008 and 2009 came as a Class 2 school. The Hounds lost the 2008 Class 2 state title game to Clark County 10-7 and won it a year later over Brentwood 35-0.

Four players that appeared in the 2009 state title game—quarterback Jonathan Baker, defensive end Tyler Tripp, running back Derek Stiens and defensive lineman Caleb Mather—are now senior starters on this year's team.

For the rest, it will be their first time playing in the Dome.

On their upcoming trek down I-70, the Hounds will square off with a team that brings serious name recognition to the table.

John Burroughs' head coach is former NFL starting quarterback Gus Frerotte.

A 15-year NFL veteran, Frerotte made the Pro Bowl with the Washington Redskins in 1996 and is perhaps best known for injuring himself on a touchdown celebration during a Monday Night Football game in 1997.

Frerotte is in his second year as the team's head coach after serving as an assistant in 2009 and 2010.

More star power comes from 6-0, 205-pound running back Ezekiel Elliott. He is the state's No. 1 high school prospect and a four-star recruit who committed to play for Urban Meyer at Ohio State in April.

Blessed with 4.42 speed, Elliott has rushed for 1,955 yards and 47 touchdowns this year.

This exceeds his junior year totals of 1,802 yards and 34 touchdowns.

Behind Elliott and a host of other talented players, Burroughs averages 44.1 points per game on offense and surrenders just 7.3 per game on defense.

The Bombers have beaten everyone on their schedule by at least 22 points.

Their closest game was a 28-6 win over Monett in the state semifinals.

"They have a very good team," said Baker. "We were able to watch them on film this weekend and today at practice we watched them more. Any time you're playing a team in the state championship, they've been doing something right. There's a lot of hype around their running back, but they have other good athletes you got to account for, too."

Equally as dominant, Maryville has won 12 of its 14 games by at least 27 points and four of five in the playoffs by 35 or more.

That includes a 42-7 win over former unbeaten California in the semifinals.

The Hounds average 48.6 points per game and allow just over eight per game.

Baker has 33 touchdown passes on the year, and the Hounds have accumulated over 3,800 yards rushing.