Athlete AJ Burke was just listed on the 3A GSHL All-League First Team for football in his senior season at Prairie High School, making him one of the best defensive players in the league with career-high stats.
“It feels like my hard work has paid off,” AJ says, and it sure did. AJ played both sides of the field, offense, and defense, and although he only played 6 out of 9 games, missing 1 game from suspension and 2 games because of injury, he recorded 20 catches for 219 yards, which was the most on the team, and 2 touchdowns along with 4 carries for 11 yards on offense, and 28 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 1 touchdown on defense.
AJ started playing football and running track his sophomore year, but sports have been a part of him all his life. He started playing basketball in the 4th grade and baseball when he was 5 years old.
“The highlight of my season was my pick-six against Evergreen,” AJ says, as his interception was against a close childhood friend of his, making the play mean a lot more to him.
AJ is open to playing football after high school if a school with interest in him has a good fire science program, but if that does not work out for him he plans to attend Oregon State University.
