Burlingame reached the Eight-Man, Division I sub-state championship game the last two seasons, the school’s best run since the early 1970s. In ’15, the Bearcats lost to Hanover, 56-32. Last year, Burlingame fell 62-16 at eventual champion Osborne. The Osborne defeat marked the first of two tipping points that has shaped a dominant 2017 season.
Fourth-year coach Jeff Slater wasn’t pleased with how the Bearcats’ coaching staff and players handled adversity in the Osborne loss. Slater believed the eventual state champion Bulldogs played “with such a tenacity” that Burlingame couldn’t match.
In the summer, Slater read some articles and the word that kept coming back for this fall was relentless. Burlingame has 35 players and 13 seniors, many of them accolade-heavy and multi-year starters. The Bearcats have consistently used #RELENTLESS on their Twitter feed. Slater has stressed the word in adverse times, work ethic and weight room.
“This is the last go around for our seniors,” Slater said.
The second change came at the annual eight-man all-star games in June at Beloit. Slater stayed across the hall from Caldwell coach Sean Blosser, two of the younger coaches on staff. Blosser, like Slater, uses a similar offense with quarterback run plays.
Last fall, Caldwell ranked third in all of eight-man with 56.2 points a contest and has opened 5-0 this year. Burlingame was seventh at 52.7. Slater and Blosser often stayed up late talking football, and Slater learned some new blocking schemes that he has implemented this year for a line that starts five seniors.
“Really challenged me as a coach,” Slater said. “And it kind of made me go back to the drawing board as far as how we wanted to block things to be able to attack some defenses that are playoff-caliber defenses.”
The changes have yielded a 5-0 start and No. 2 ranking in Eight-Man, Division I. The Bearcats, despite playing the first part of the season without all-state senior quarterback Dalton Sporing because of injury, has outscored teams 295-20.
Burlingame ranks first in the classification in scoring offense and is tied for second in defense. Slater has called the team’s best position groups the offensive and defensive lines headlined by all-state senior Tristan Lee.
“He has got very talented skill players as well, but what makes his offense go is that offensive line,” Clifton-Clyde coach Russ Steinbrock said. “They are well-coached. They are big. They are physical. When they get hands on people, they get locked on, and they move people. It’s just very hard for defenders to separate.”
This week, the Bearcats travel to Clifton-Clyde (5-0) in a matchup that will likely decide the two playoff spots out of District 3. While this district had multiple playoff contenders last year, other teams have taken big graduation losses. Clifton-Clyde is already 3-0 in district play, while Burlingame stands at 2-0. Due to the threat of severe weather, the game will start at 6 p.m., according to coach Steinbrock’s Twitter account.
The Eagles, with 25 players and five seniors, have used freshman Aidan Rudolph under center. Clifton-Clyde has outscored teams, 283-12, and ranks second in scoring offense and first in defense.
The Eagles have had one of season’s best moments when senior Ian Bergstrom, who has Down Syndrome, scored a touchdown and earned Homecoming King honors in a 59-6 Week 4 home win versus Rural Vista. Bergstrom has had statewide media attention with the play. The Clifton-Clyde football Facebook account has more than 40,000 views on the videos.
“It was going to be kind of a cool thing for our team, and we thought it was going to be something cool for Ian’s family and also his community,” Steinbrock said. “And it was just crazy how big it blew up.”
Both team’s defenses have scored more points than allowed. Clifton-Clyde has eight defensive touchdowns (six off fumbles) and one special teams TD. Junior lineman Nathan Ohlde leads with 6.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries, two for scores, and ranks second with 31 tackles.
Junior Skylar Robbins is an undersized nose guard at 150 pounds and has wreaked havoc inside. Senior Gavin Cyr has recovered two fumbles. Senior linebacker Elias Girard (33 tackles) has led the team in stops the last two seasons.
“On that defensive line, (Ohlde) has not been blocked much this year,” Steinbrock said. “I don’t know if that’s a fault a little bit to the young defenses we have faced, but I think probably more so it’s just his ability. He is a hard guy to get locked on to.”
Burlingame has six defensive touchdowns and one special teams score. Defensive coordinator Nick Brungardt mentioned the 2002 Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that became the first unit in 17 years to lead the NFL in total defense, points allowed and interceptions.
Brungardt said the Bucs’ defense was “so special” because of their ability to score touchdowns. Tampa Bay had three pick-sixes in the Super Bowl and another one in the NFC title game. Bearcat senior Colton Noonan has a pair of pick-sixes and returned a punt for a score.
“If you really want to be one of the top defenses in the state, and be a special defense, score touchdowns,” Slater recalled Brungardt’s line.
Clifton-Clyde went 8-2 last season and is 99-49 in Steinbrock’s 16th year. Steinbrock, a ’93 graduate, ran the double tight end single wing in high school and throughout his coaching career. Steinbrock remembered a line from Gary Carlson, a longtime Eagle coach who retired last season. He said small schools have to build their schemes around the athletes and talent level.
“We just knew size-wise that against good teams like Burlingame we’ve got coming up, we really knew that we weren’t going to be able to line up double tight and run any power and have success,” Steinbrock said.
This year, Clifton-Clyde, with no starter above 190 pounds, has changed to a multiple spread look. All the formations have one tight end. Clifton-Clyde junior Brant Douglas was supposed to play quarterback. However, he suffered a toe injury on the season’s first snap when he was on defense.
Rudolph has completed 23 of 30 passes for 260 yards with a 5/0 TD/INT ratio. Douglas has returned and seen time in multiple roles. Junior Drake Steinbrock, the coach’s son and returning starter, leads with 43 carries for 348 yards and 12 scores.
The 5-foot-7, 150-pound Steinbrock has spent time in the weight room since elementary school. When he first started coaching, Russ still recalls Drake lifting PVC pipes. Coach Steinbrock said his son has put 45-50 pounds of muscle in the last two offseasons.
Last year, the Bearcats led 28-12 after the first quarter and pulled away for a 66-20 win. Slater is “really anxious” to see how his defense responds to Clifton-Clyde’s offense, especially early.
“Last year when we played them, I remember the first three drives they just ran the ball right down our throats, and we had no answer for them,” Slater said. “And we were scrambling, and we kind of were just drawing some defenses in the dirt to try to figure out how to stop them, and I think our depth took over. They turned the ball over a couple times, and our conditioning became a factor.”
Burlingame’s depth has helped again this year. Sporing, considered eight-man’s best quarterback, suffered a knee injury in basketball. In the summer, Slater had Sporing write 10 goals. Sporing wrote one of his goals was to return by Week 7. Instead, Sporing practiced all year, was cleared early, and has played in three games.
He has completed 12 of 22 passes for 225 yards with a 7/0 TD/INT ratio. Sporing’s running ability remains. He has recorded just six carries for 49 yards and three scores. For his career, he has 76 passing scores and 51 rushing.
“I really can’t tell you a difference in his arm strength, in his decision making,” Slater said. “I don’t see somebody who is timid and worried about getting hit. I will say in the run game, I think he has the ability to be the explosive runner that he was before. We haven’t had to use it. We will use it eventually.”
Last year, Sporing delivered 1,430 passing yards and 1,221 rushing yards as the main ball carrier. This season, junior Montana Giffin played well in Sporing’s stead as the signal caller, and junior Seth Greenwood (26 carries, 353 yards, nine scores) as emerged as the main ball carrier. Last season, Greenwood had 598 rushing yards.
“We have great balance,” Slater said. “You really can’t key on one thing, because if you key on one thing, we are able to get somebody else involved and utilize those weapons as well.”
The offensive line has been the key.
Senior center Timmy Griffin and senior tight end Zach Herrick serve as captains along with the four Bearcat well-known standouts: Noonan, Sporing, Lee and senior end Jake Thompson. They, along with senior guard Dillyn Brown, are all multi-year starters. Slater said Brown “really struggled in the Osborne game,” used that as motivation and has enjoyed a “spectacular year.”
In eighth grade, Slater told Lee’s dad that his son would be one of best players to ever play for Burlingame. A junior high running back, Lee has emerged a 5-foot-10, 240-pound force up front. He leads the team with 54 tackles and TFLs. Also a state runner-up in the shot put, Lee has 281 tackles and 36 TFLs in his career.
“What makes him special is his first step,” Slater said. “His first step is explosive. Outside of his physicality, his first step, it throws people off, because his quickness is off the charts. I think he gets that a little bit from his shot putting.”
Use your Facebook account to add a comment or start a discussion. Posts are subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment.
