In the shadow of Peyton Manning’s record-breaking run with the Broncos, his high school quarterback counterparts in Colorado are playing right along.
This is the year of the quarterback.
And Owen Burke, a rangy junior at D’Evelyn High, is putting up numbers Manning might envy.
Burke, a 6-foot-3 gunslinger, has thrown for , against Lewis-Palmer and No. 10-ranked Conifer. Those are the fourth- and fifth- best single-game passing marks in Colorado’s 94 years of high school football.
“When you have a kid who’s seeing the field, go with it,” D’Evelyn coach Jeremy Bennett said.
And Burke isn’t the only one putting up incredible numbers. Four of the 10-best single-game passing marks in Colorado’s history have happened in the past five weeks. They include a new No. 1, Adam Brown’s 589 yards for Air Academy on Sept. 19.
But half of this season’s best passing games belong to Burke.
“I was a little flustered at first. I’d never started before. I was making it hard on myself,” Burke said. “But I realized we have athletic guys. All I need to do is get them the ball.”
Burke’s midseason rise to gunslinger status came after a simple tweak to D’Evelyn’s offense. In his first season as a starter, Burke took over a spread-style offense that called for him to roll out from the shotgun to throw on the move or scramble. A little Tim Tebow-style option-read flavor.
But that didn’t suit his game. He prefers to pass from the pocket.
D’Evelyn (2-4) got off to a rough start. In Week 2, the Class 3A Jaguars struggled against 4A’s No. 8-ranked Greeley West, as Burke threw for 79 yards and had four passes intercepted.
Burke can see over his offensive line and throw with purpose and poise. So Bennett adapted his philosophy.
D’Evelyn’s offense is now less frantic. Burke, set up in a shotgun formation, works behind a quick and effective zone-blocking offensive line and throws from the pocket.
“We’ve played to his strengths,” said Bennett, in his 10th year coaching the Jaguars. “Owen is a tall, slender kid, and he has a whip for an arm. He plays the game better in the pocket. We’re idiots for not doing that earlier on.”
Burke is now seeing defenses geared to stop his team’s high-powered passing attack by using more defensive backs. He’s relying on an athletic receiving corps that includes junior Cameron Brown (33 catches, 704 yards) and sophomore Justin Kehoe (29-375) among six effective targets.
Burke believes the Jaguars have found their stride and can finish strong.
“We’re making some incredible leaps,” he said. “We’re starting to go the right way. We had a bumpy start, but we’ll finish strong.”
Burke, too, is carrying on a passing tradition at D’Evelyn. The Jeffco school has become somewhat of a quarterback factory since 1994. Burke’s records this season surpassed Cody Marvel’s now sixth-best 523-yard game for D’Evelyn in 2011. And he bumped down Mark Schaffer’s 486-yard game in 2006 to No. 10 and knocked Caleb Flack’s 461-yard mark in 2011 out of the top 10.
Schaffer was Burke’s quarterback coach last season. This season it’s Garrett Griffeth, whose 4,690 yards passing for D’Evelyn in 2008 is one of the 10 best single-season records in state history.
“Coach Griffeth gave me good advice,” Burke said. “Control what you can and let the rest of it go.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or
