After dropping its opener to defending Class 4A champ Rochester, Simeon has been flying mostly under the radar. But first-year coach Sinque Turner, who left one of the Public League’s top programs at Kenwood to take over at his alma mater, has the building blocks for a team that could play deep into November. In the Wolverines’ fourth straight win, 62-0 over Brooks Friday afternoon at Gately Stadium, an established star and an emerging star took center stage.
Senior Christopher Burgess Jr. is one of the best defensive linemen in the nation, a four-star prospect committed to Notre Dame who’s the consensus No. 4 player in the state.
Long and explosive at 6-4 and 240 pounds, he’s the leader of a defense that has allowed 24 points during a four-game winning streak for Simeon (4-1, 3-0 Public League Red). On Friday, the Wolverines held Brooks (1-4, 0-3) to nine total yards, consistently stuffing the run game and applying heavy pressure to Eagles quarterback David Richardson. Burgess is setting the tone despite facing an array of blocking schemes designed to neutralize him, if not stop him.
“We’re doing our job,” he said. “That loss to Rochester improved us.” Simeon expected to have another elite defensive lineman this season.
But four-star junior McHale Blade, who has almost 20 Power Four offers, is out for the year. “McHale had an unfortunate injury over the summer where he had to get his ACL repaired,” Turner said. “But it’s slight and he’ll be back [.