Burke vs. Papillion Game Cements Nebraska’s Arrival to New Era of HS Football
QBs Zach Cook & Alec Ditoro strike for record-breaking night
Late to the party, but nevertheless finding its way to the dance floor, Nebraska high school football has begrudgingly shed its run-oriented veer and option style of offensive play to enter the high octane world of the wide-open pro-formation, shotgun, spread, pistol and wildcat attacks.
This decade-long transition has never been more evident than it was last night during the Burke vs. Papillion game that saw Monarch sophmore OB Alec Ditoro and Bulldog junior QB Zach Cook both set single-game school passing records. Cook also threw 6 scoring strikes to tie the Class A record for touchdowns in a game. In addition to those records, Papillion amassed a total of 470 passing yards to break the Class A single-game team mark.
Here is the amazing breakdown to a contest that totaled 11 TDs with only one of those coming on the ground:
| Player, School | Pass Attempts | Completions | INT | Yards | TD |
| Zach Cook, Burke | 25 | 20 | 0 | 387 | 6 |
| Alec Ditoro, Papillion | 29 | 25 | 0 | 390 | 4 |
| Trey Moore, Papillion | 8 | 5 | 0 | 41 | |
| Ryan Leif, Papillion | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | |
| Receiving | Receptions | ||||
| Bryce Sheard, Papillion | 5 | 167 | 3 | ||
| Zach Oliver, Burke | 9 | 131 | 2 | ||
| Jordan Nelson, Burke | 4 | 126 | 2 | ||
| Lewis, Papillion | 8 | 120 | |||
| Ryan Leif, Papillion | 10 | 77 | |||
| Tyler Wrice, Papillion | 4 | 77 | |||
| Carson Collins, Burke | 1 | 61 | 1 | ||
| Turner Gaines, Burke | 4 | 48 | 1 | ||
| Scott Lucks, Papillion | 4 | 29 | 1 | ||
| TreVaun Hymer, Burke | 2 | 12 | |||
| Rushing | Carries | ||||
| Nelson | 11 | 63 | |||
| Collins | 13 | 37 | |||
| Moore | 10 | 28 | 1 | ||
| Wrice | 8 | 17 | |||
| Cook | 9 | 15 | |||
| Jeremy Queen, Burke | 4 | 6 | |||
| Ditoro | 6 | 1 | |||
| Oliver | 1 | 1 |
Evolution is good for Nebraska high school football prospects
Nebraska high school football’s slow move from the “three yards and a cloud of dust ” philosophy began in the late ‘90s, but it wasn’t until shortly after Bill Callahan’s’ arrival at Nebraska University in 2004 – ushering in the West Coast offense – that some of the state’s high school football coaches began in earnest to incorporate more pass-oriented strategies into their game plans. As a result, since that time, Nebraska high school football has witnessed the gradual emergence of some well-oiled quarterback-receiver tandems.
This all bodes well for Nebraska high school football prospects because the game of football has certainly evolved, first at the professional level and then among the college ranks, to feature the passing game. Consequently, the more exposure Nebraska high school football players have to this pervasive offensive style of play the more prepared they will be to play football at the college level.
The move to the new era will result in better passing QBs and receiver’s, better pass blocking O-linemen and pass-rushing D-lineman, better defensive backs and more team emphasis on the speed and quickness it takes to execute the offenses and to defend against them. Even better, the proliferation of high octane offenses will mean more exciting games for the fans – like the one that took place at Burke Stadium on Friday.
Here is a salute to Burke and Papillion head coaches Paul Limongi and Jeff Govier and their staffs along with the players on both teams for putting on an amazing demonstration of modern day high-octane football.
The game statistics presented above are unofficial totals as presented by Omaha World-Herald.
Click following link for more details about this great game: “Top-ranked-Burke-outpoints Papio”
September 25, 2011 @ 12:43 pm
You made some very good points about the passing game in regards to how it can help recruiting down the road. I’m glad to see so many teams this year with good QB play. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few recruiting classes.
So who gets to keep the trophy? LOL.