John Burroughs principal applauds Maryville

Editor's Note: This letter was submitted to Maryville High School principal Jason Eggers from John Burroughs Head of School Andy Abbott after the Class 3 Show-Me-Bowl.

Dear Mr. Eggers,

I wanted to drop you a quick note to congratulate you, your school, your players, your coaches and your fans on an incredible football season and a truly remarkable state championship game.

As you may or may not know, Burroughs has had a tremendous run over the last three years. I have had the opportunity to see virtually every game during those three seasons, and I have to say that yours was the finest team that we have faced in that time.

It was a group of outstanding athletes that displayed admirable discipline -- they were the best-coached team I can recall seeing.

And on top of the outstanding play of your student-athletes, I was touched to see the impressive sportsmanship of your team. Throughout the game, I saw time and time again your players tackling ours and then helping them back up off of the turf. I never saw one ounce of arrogance from your fine team.

Your fans and coaches represented your town well -- they were enthusiastic and passionate without ever being negative toward us.

It was a heartbreaking loss for our team and for our school. This may have been the strongest team we have ever fielded, but I was comforted in the loss knowing that we lost team a team and a town that did things the right way, with such class and dignity. It was an honor to watch our athletes compete with yours. You are a hard team to pull against.

I hope that you are all taking justifiable pride in what you have accomplished, and I hope that we will have the opportunity to compete with you all in the future.

With sincere admiration,

Andy Abbott

Head of School

John Burroughs