2000s New Millennium, Continuing Tradition - John Burroughs School

The 2001 state
champtionship
football team.
234 JOHN BURROUGHS /
a historic comeback
The Bombers achieved huge victories over MICDS 20–7 and over Lutheran North in the district finals 47–27. Two other
wins, however, stand out above all else—the televised semifinals of state play against Monroe City at Leland Field, and
the state-championship victory over Warsaw at the Dome. Trailing Monroe City 19–0 at halftime, the Bombers staged a
second-half surge that Lemen called “the most remarkable comeback I have ever been associated with.”
Curran Clark surprised the Panthers in the second half with an onside kick that was recovered by Burroughs; six plays
later Eads bolted into the end zone to make it 19–7. The Bombers’ defense then came to life: Scott Van Slyke intercepted
a pass, and Eads went back to work on the ground, ultimately skirting left for twenty-two yards for another score.
Down 19–14 in the fourth quarter, A. J. Van Slyke swiped a Monroe City pass, setting up a Curran Clark field goal that closed
the gap to 19–17. Eads added to the comeback romp with his third and fourth touchdowns on runs of 25 and 88 yards. A
pair of two-point conversions on passes from A. J. Van Slyke to Clark brought the final score to 33–19 and earned the Bombers
a trip to the Dome. Eads had 218 rushing yards—200 of them in the second half—to go with his four touchdowns.
“It was fun to see,” said Jim Lemen in a post-game interview, employing masterful understatement. “That’s what football
is all about. It’s like life. You get down; you have to get up. . . . That’s what champions are made of.” Fans have never forgotten
the scene—and they talk about it still. In the runaway second half, A. J. Van Slyke appeared to be everywhere on
defense and Eads seemed to score every time he touched the ball.
“the Best high school Football game i have seen”
The championship game brought the Bombers head-to-head with Warsaw for the fourth time in the state playoffs: The
Bombers held a 2–1 edge. The teams featured different styles of play. Warsaw ran the triple option and emphasized a
ground game; Burroughs had a more open offense, running and passing from pro sets and the shotgun formation.
The game was a thrilling, seesaw affair that saw three lead changes. The Bombers were down 12–0 with a minute to go
in the first half when A. J. Van Slyke scored following the first of two fumble recoveries by Tien Chusak ’02. The Wildcats
boosted their lead to 18–7 on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, but Burroughs seized control 29–18 with
a trifecta—a deceptive A. J. Eads to Curran Clark touchdown pass, a forty-yard scoring run by Eads, and a touchdown
bomb from Van Slyke to Brian Jump.
Warsaw then regained the lead with fourteen unanswered points of its own. With a little over three minutes to play, Eads
scored, and a successful conversion put Burroughs ahead by four. Warsaw marched to the Bombers’ five, where they decided
to throw for only the fourth time in the game. (Jordan Fields ’02 had intercepted one, and the other two were incomplete.)
Burroughs was not fooled by the play-action pass. Chusak tipped the ball, and Bob Miltenberger intercepted and ran
it back to midfield, where pandemonium erupted.
Post-game reactions from Burroughs’ partisans were varied—but all euphoric: A. J. Van Slyke: “All I have to say, that was
the biggest gut check I’ve ever seen.” A. J. Eads, who ran for 153 yards on 16 carries: “It’s not even sinking in yet—what
we’ve really accomplished. It’s so incredible to go 13–0—state champions—I don’t know how much more you can ask for.”
Miltenberger, the game-preserver: “That was the greatest game I’ve ever played in.”
An Illinois assistant football coach called it “the best high school football game I have seen.” Nathan Keller, a three-year
varsity player and a captain for two years, wrote this in a letter: “As time goes by and my JBS years fade further into memories,
the 2001 season, with all the players and coaches, will always be an experience I will treasure.”
Many athletes on the 2001 team were multitalented and contributed to championships in track, tennis, or baseball. Twelve
players—Clark, Crane, Jordan Davis ’04, Eads, Ian English ’04, Charlie Felker, Jon Hoeven ’04, Jump, Keller, Ben Rassieur ’04,
Scott, and Schnuck—played college football. Although no other team in the decade experienced the challenge of state playoffs,
the 2004 squad (Jim Lemen’s last) and the teams of 2005 and 2006 (Todd Small’s first two seasons) forged solid 7–2 records.
Both teams were challenged by assignment to Class 3 under the multiplier rule by then in effect for non-public schools.
/ THE 2000s: NEw MillENNiUM, CONTiNUiNG TRadiTiON 235