4A high school football: Timpview's Burr making a difference at new position

PROVO — Jeremiah Burr has loved Timpview football for about as long as he can remember anything.

When he was about 7 years old, Burr remembers being dropped off on the north side of Timpview's football stadium by his older sisters, so he could sit and watch his beloved T-Birds play.

"I'd sit on that hill," Burr, now a senior and a member of Timpview's team, said while gazing to the north side of Timpview's stadium during practice on Monday, "and watch guys like Stephen Covey, Mike Affleck, Spencer Funk and Harvey Unga."

Burr's love affair with Timpview football grew and grew as he grew and grew, and throughout his ensuing formative years, Burr always dreamed of one day becoming Timpview High's starting quarterback.

He played quarterback in Timpview's program during his freshman, sophomore and junior years, and entering this fall, his senior season, it seemed his dream was about to become a reality

There was just one problem — he didn't win the job.

After battling neck-and-neck with Trevor Brown throughout the summer and the first two weeks of the preseason, coaches ultimately awarded the starting job to Brown.

That would be obviously tough for anybody to swallow, but to his immense credit, Burr has been the ultimate team player for the T-Birds.

With starting running backs Josey Trammel and Bryson McKenzie out with injuries, coaches asked Burr to move to that position in the backfield. Burr agreed to make the move, and he's been a stabilizing force for Timpview's offense ever since.

Trammel and McKenzie have both since come back from injury and have since formed a three-man rotation with Burr, which prep football fans will see when Timpview faces Springville in the 4A title game on Friday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Earlier in the year, however, it was all up to Burr to stabilize that position, and that's precisely what he did.

"That was tough," offensive coordinator Chad Van Orden said of Burr changing positions. "To start with, I don't think he was sold on running back, and thinking maybe we should put him somewhere else, whether it was on defense or somewhere else. But he's done a great job."