Omaha Sports Insider's Grace Yowell sat down with Creighton Prep head football coach Tim Johnk to discuss this season so far, Thursday's matchup with Papio South and more.
Last week, Creighton Prep improved to 4-1 after taking down the Papillion-La Vista Monarchs 38-21.
"I thought we came out and played really physical football Thursday night. I think that's been a point of emphasis for us," Johnk said.
Senior tight end Grant Matthies ended Thursday's win over Papio with three catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Johnk said that although the tight end has shown his ability to catch the ball, he's also not afraid to get physical in the trenches.
"The thing that people maybe don't know about him, is the fact that he's a really good blocker, he's a really physical kid," Johnk said.
The Jr. Jays are hopeful that senior running back Elisha Burts will be back for their next game against Papillion-La Vista South. Burts ranks No. 9 in rushing yards in Class A this season despite sitting out the first couple of games this season with an injury.
"He's looking good, his rehab is going well and we just want to make sure he's a hundred percent going into the last half of the season," Johnk said.
Junior running back Jackson Bartling has stepped up for Creighton Prep since the injury of Burts.
"He's a quick athletic kid who has great vision, he's really accepted that role here the last couple of weeks," Johnk said. "It's nice going in now that we have a little depth there when we get Elisha back."
Johnk said that blending past with present has been the recipe for success here in his first year as head coach with the Jr. Jays.
"We've kind of merged some things they've done in the past with some new things that I brought to the program and I think overall it's gone really really well," Johnk said.
Creighton Prep (4-1) will take on Papillion-La Vista South Thursday, Sept. 28. The game will take place at Papillion-La Vista South with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
"We are really focused on winning a district championship which hasn't been done at Creighton Prep since 2008. The only way we are going to do that is to continue to get better in some of the things that maybe we haven't done very well up to this point," Johnk said.
