Week 10 Football Preview: Trenton @ Brookfield

Three years ago when the Missouri High School football districts were rearranged, people were thrilled to see Trenton and Brookfield back in the same district. The two schools had some great battles in the mid-to-late 2000’s when they shared a district.
Fans didn’t have to wait long for the potential district match-up to occur. In fact, for the third year in a row, Trenton and Brookfield will square off in the opening round of the district playoffs. The previous two years have seen Trenton’s season ended by Brookfield and this season, with Brookfield being the top seed and carrying a number 9 ranking in the Class 2 state poll, Trenton will be considered a heavy underdog.
“The only reason this rivalry hasn’t been fun here recently is because we haven’t beaten them,” Trenton Head Coach Brandon Boswell said. “I think that’s the case. If we beat them a few times, I think it’s not that big of a deal. We have gone there at the end of the last two seasons and just not played very well.”
While the first two seasons saw Brookfield and Trenton settling into the four and five seed spots, this year sees Brookfield as the number one seed while Trenton represents the eight seed. The Bulldogs know just what they will see from Brookfield on Friday night. At 9-0 and state-ranked, it’s been hard to ignore what the Clarence Cannon Conference champions have achieved this season.
While rolling through their conference schedule, Brookfield rode the legs of Reed McBroom. The Brookfield running back is no doubt the Bulldogs’ key source of offense and Boswell knows that stopping him, or at least slowing him down is a must.
“I think number one is Reed McBroom,” Boswell said. “He is a junior and about 6-0 and 225 pounds. If you watch him on film, he moves really well. He is a hard, physical runner and it’s going to take more than one guy to bring him down probably. So we are going to have to make sure we swarm on defense. I think he will run the ball 35 times or more and that just goes to their mentality that this is what we are going to do and if you know, who cares? We are still going to do it.”
Brookfield’s quarterback, junior Anthony Cupp, also can provide Brookfield with some offense, using both his arm and feet.
“Cupp is the real deal,” Boswell said. “He can throw, he can make plays with his legs and he is a really good general out there on the field it seems.”
Trenton will counter with a running game that has had a lot of success over the past four weeks. Trenton topped 400 rushing yards last week and has been over 300 yards rushing three times in that four-week span. The Bulldogs have a strong back in Travis Leeper, but the emergence of Jonathan Lamp, who has gone over 150 yards each of the past two weeks, and Bailey Owen, who had four total touchdowns last week, has sent Trenton to the next level.
“All of our backs are running pretty well,” Boswell said. “They are capable of doing some big things. They all can run, what we need them to be able to do, though is block. If we aren’t getting our blocks at the point of attack Friday night, it is going to be a very difficult task for us.
“Concordia, it seemed like their game plan was to stop Lamp. He had a very big game against Kirksville and Concordia was determined to stop him. I would assume Brookfield has the same plan, they want to try and stop our sweeps, so we will have to establish something in the middle. If we are going to do that, we are going to have to get good blocking out of those guys. We haven’t done that very well this year, so we are going to have to make sure we do that better.”
While Brookfield will be heavily favored, Trenton has a much better shot now than it appeared they would have earlier in the season. The Bulldogs have taken strides in the right direction over the past four weeks. Trenton also enters the game with momentum following its second victory of the season, a 41-26 win in Concordia. Trenton won the turnover battle against Concordia and, if the Bulldogs can take care of the ball and force some Brookfield turnovers this week, it might just be enough to spring the upset.
The game kicks off from Burlington Field at 7 p.m.
Week 10 Notables
Offense
Rushing – Jonathan Lamp, 68 carries, 544 yards, 4 TDs; Travis Leeper, 75 carries, 542 yards, 2 TDs.
Passing – Dalton Ellis, 36-87, 496 yards, 8 TD, 8 int’s.
Receiving – Aaron Anderson, 13 catches, 267 yards, 3 TDs.
Defense
Tackles – Trey Shields, 120; Kail McCarter, 91; Gavin Griffin 58; Anderson 50.
Tackles For Loss – Griffin, 4; Austin Burkeybile, 3; three tied at 2.
Sacks – Four tied at 1.
Interceptions – Anderson, 3; McCarter 3.

Starting Lineups
Trenton Offense
QB 13 Dalton Ellis 5-10 158 Sr.
RB 11 Travis Leeper 5-11 154 Jr.
WB 25 Jonathan Lamp 5-11 163 Jr.
FB 16 Bailey Owen 5-11 153 Sr.
OT 51 Alex Davis 6-3 218 Sr.
OG 56 Trey Shields 6-1 169 Jr.
C 50 Tucker Franklin 5-7 225 Jr.
OG 54 Jeramiah Chipps 5-11 215 Sr.
OT 53 Nick Gass 6-0 189 Sr.
TE 24 Cree Mullenix 6-1 184 Jr.
WR 80 Aaron Anderson 6-1 161 Sr.
Trenton Defense
DE 74 Terrin Ellis 6-4 256 Sr.
NG 75 Travis Gilbertson 6-2 275 Sr.
DE 53 Nick Gass 6-0 189 Sr.
LB 11 Travis Leeper 5-11 154 Jr.
LB 24 Cree Mullenix 6-1 184 Jr.
LB 56 Trey Shields 6-1 169 Jr.
LB 21 Gavin Griffin 6-4 179 Sr.
LB 27 Austin Burkeybile 6-0 176 So.
CB 13 Dalton Ellis 5-10 158 Sr.
CB 80 Aaron Anderson 6-1 161 Sr.
FS 18 Kail McCarter 5-11 153 Jr.
Brookfield Defense
DL 12 Andrew Cupp 6-0 181 Jr.
DL 61 Trevor White 5-9 247 Sr.
DL 54 Quincy Cooper 6-3 226 Sr.
DL 51 Matt Teter 6-3 175 Jr.
LB 38 Reed McBroom 6-0 217 Jr.
LB 23 Drake Menconi 5-9 175 So.
LB 35 Dean Gall 5-7 147 Sr.
DB 24 Blaine Sportsman 5-7 130 Sr.
DB 4 Anthony Cupp 5-11 151 Sr.
DB 5 Tucker Noble 6-2 177 Jr.
DB 6 Seth Speichinger 6-0 157 Jr.
Brookfield Offense
QB 4 Anthony Cupp 5-11 151 Sr.
RB 38 Reed McBroom 6-0 217 Jr.
FB 11 David Keller 5-9 232 Jr.
OL 67 Adam Palmer 6-1 190 Sr.
OL 62 Dexter Carmichael 5-10 285 Sr.
OL 54 Quincy Cooper 6-3 226 Sr.
OL 57 Ryan Elliott 6-4 291 Sr.
OL 61 Trevor White 5-9 247 Sr.
TE 5 Tucker Noble 6-2 177 Jr.
WR 35 Dean Gall 5-7 147 Sr.
WR 6 Seth Speichinger 6-0 157 Jr.