Sixth-ranked Creighton Prep is hitting their stride right as the shortened season begins to wrap up, coming off a dominating 67-0 win over the winless Lincoln Northeast Rockets.  Prep’s next matchup is against the struggling Papillion South Titans, who are 1-5 and coming off a tough 27-26 loss against Grand Island.  

Meanwhile, the Junior Jays are looking to stretch their winning streak to 4 games, something nearly unthinkable after the 42-0 loss to #1 Westside and the shutdown thanks to a positive test for Covid-19 in early September.  

Prep’s rushing offense continued to be the main factor, with 8 different players scoring a rushing touchdown, including junior Jack Stessman and senior Vinny Cacioppo (in his first game back from injury).  This game is just the second Prep win all season decided by double digits, potentially the start of a nice trend for the team.  The offense looked unstoppable, and the defense pitched a shutout (plus two forced turnovers) against Lincoln Northeast’s struggling offense.  Even special teams got the backups in the game, as Prep totaled 10 touchdowns in a romp and could have scored 70 if the starters had played after the second quarter.  

Meanwhile, Papillion South continues to struggle.  Their season started by giving up 33 straight points in a 40-11 loss to their rivals, the Papillion La Vista Monarchs.  Since then, the team’s offense has gotten back on track, but the defense (37 points given up a game) has not.  The Titans’ quarterback is sophomore Brady Fitzpatrick, who has done a good job moving the ball this year (180 total yards per game), but has struggled with ball security, throwing for 10 interceptions and losing 4 fumbles.  Another sophomore, receiver Devyn Jones, has had a breakout year for the Titans, with 441 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns (both leading the team).  Papillion South has struggled on defense against ranked teams all year, giving up an average of 43 points and 511 yards a game, not boding well considering the fact that they are facing a ranked team with a red-hot offense.  

Overall, this game will probably go like the Lincoln Northeast game.  Prep is clearly the more talented team, and was able to beat Papillion La Vista, unlike Papillion South.  AJ Rollins and the rest of the Prep offense are rounding into form, and ball-hawking corner Alex Bullock (5 interceptions) will likely have a field day against the Titans.  Prep has earned their top 6 ranking and is one of the top teams in the state, while Papillion South…is not.  Prep will move to 5-2 on Thursday.

My final prediction is Creighton Prep 35-17.