Sports
Burrow continues to shine for Railroaders
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Friday, November 6, 2009 9:40 AM EST
DURAND - When the season began for Durand in August, James Burrow was not the starting quarterback.
When he was inserted into the lineup in the fourth quarter of the Railroaders' game against Montrose, Burrow played as if the position was his all along.
Durand opened the season with a loss to Chesaning. The Railroaders were losing late in their second game to the Rams, when coach Bryan Carpenter made a change behind center. Out went starter Allen Harwood and in went Burrow. All Burrow did was lead the Railroaders to a come-from-behind win over the Rams. And all he has done since is win a few more to get Durand into the playoffs for the first time since 1983.
“James (Burrow) keeps a pretty level head and is just a competitor,” said Durand coach Bryan Carpenter. “He wants to compete every play and when you have a kid willing to do that you have a chance.”
A point guard on the basketball team, Burrow started the season competing with Harwood for time at quarterback, but when the team started the season with a loss at Chesaning, Burrow took the reins and never looked back.
“(Burrow) was just a better fit for the offense we were running and he stepped up,” Harwood said.
At times this season, Burrow has been electrifying, leading the Railroaders to their first playoff appearance in 26 years, and the school's second-ever playoff win in last week's 34-14 victory at Laingsburg.
Burrow hasn't done it with just his arm. He has thrown for 804 yards, completed 50 percent of his passes with 10 TDs, but he is a threat to take off and run at any time. He has rushed for 852 yards, averaging 5.1 yards a carry, and ran in nine TDs, including 127 yards against Laingsburg last week. He has made it difficult for defenders to key in on him due to his threat to either take off or find an open receiver.
“I have no clue how I do it actually,” Burrow said. “I just run and try to make a move when someone comes to tackle me.”
Burrow has an evasive quality that at times has slowed down defenses and forced opposing teams to think twice about blitzing him or rushing after him after the pocket breaks down.
“He's elusive but I think part of it is he throws well too,” Carpenter said. “When he's on the edge teams don't just fly to him because someone else is open and he's done a nice job of finding open receivers. He slows people down because of his threat to throw or run, it's a different style but it's worked well for us.”
In last week's game at Laingsburg, Burrow was forced out of the pocket, rolled left and lofted a pass to Jordan Warren for a 30-yard touchdown on a third-and-10 with 12 seconds left before halftime, leaving the Wolfpack defense looking baffled.
It's those kind of plays that Ovid-Elsie coach Jerry Goosen is worried Burrow will make against the Marauders.
“(Durand) has a quarterback that can throw and likes to run and they know how to use him,” Goosen said. “(Burrow) is the 11th man that a lot of offenses don't have and they do a good job of making sure you defend 11-on-11, and that's our challenge.”
Carpenter says Burrow has shown tremendous confidence in the coaching staff to call the right plays that will maximize his abilities, but Carpenter knows its the other 10 guys on offense that have the Railroaders on the right track.
“I know James (Burrow) gets a lot of the credit but it's been a team effort on offense,” Carpenter said. “I think his ability to get the guys to play for him and to make big plays for him.”
Cheryl wrote on Nov 6, 2009 3:41 PM: