After a commanding victory over the Papillion- La Vista Monarchs, A.J. Hubner and the rest of the Creighton Prep Junior Jays are looking to build off a record week. Hubner tied a Class A state record with six touchdown passes, throwing two touchdowns each to senior Shannon Brewer and junior Grant Matthies.

The Junior Jays had one of their best offensive games of the year. Senior running back Nate Reiner finished with 176 rushing yards and Hubner finished with 316 pass yards. Overall, the offense racked up 605 total yards. The explosive Prep offense will face off against the Papillion- La Vista South Titans defense. The Titans are coming off a 31-3 loss to the Millard West Wildcats, and allow an average of 26 points per game, while only averaging 22 points every week, leading them to a 3-2 record.

Historically, the Titans have been a tough opponent for the Junior Jays. The two teams have faced off five times in the last 3 seasons, but Papillion- La Vista South head coach Walter Olsen, feels that the history has no effect on this year’s game, and that each team is different from the teams of past years. When the Junior Jays and the Titans met in the state playoffs last season, the Titans emerged as the winners, eliminating Prep from the state playoffs.

Senior team assistant Brett Burkard said, “Papio [South] is going to be a tough game, they have a couple big boys up front, they will put up a big fight.”

One of the biggest challenges the Titans will face is the defensive line of the Junior Jays. Lead by senior Peter Gehrls, the defensive line is looking to take over this weekend. The Titans like to focus on their run game as opposed to their passing game. Last week, against the Wildcats, the Titans only threw the ball seven times, racking up 15 yards total, while running for 205 yards.

Olsen said, “we have done good things in different phases of the game at different times, but we have not put it all together yet.”

This Thursday night game has some serious playoff implications. With both teams having two losses, a third loss could be detrimental to their playoff hopes. The Junior Jays have shown state champion talent, but need to continue their winning streak to have any hopes of making a deep run.

The game is on Thursday, September 29, at 7 p.m. at Omaha Burke Stadium.