Bixby’s Christian Burke Adds to Spartan Tradition

By MIKE MOGUIN
GTR Sports Writer

A fine line of quarterbacks have guided the Bixby football program over the course of its dynasty.

Senior Christian Burke is the latest to lead the Spartans, who will be seeking a fourth consecutive Class 6AII title in December. He took over the reins from Mason Williams, who graduated after being under center for three seasons.
“It’s awesome. It shows my whole team and coaching staff is putting their trust in me to be a good leader out there and run our offense as efficiently as possible and just take control,” Burke said.

The Spartans (6-0 overall, 3-0 in District 6AII-2) have proven their No. 1 ranking in Class 6AII by piling on the points. Even against the top opponents, Bixby is dominating. It got a big win against Jenks, last year’s 6AI state champion, in their second game of the season. The Spartans beat the Trojans 23-15 in that game, then beat Stillwater 42-14. But have won their other games by scores of 69-14, 71-0, 81-6 and 70-7. The last score came against Choctaw, whom Bixby beat just 17-14 in last year’s 6AII state championship game.

“We just came out and we were prepared,” Burke said. “We weren’t ready to play down to our opponents’ level. We were just ready to play our ball game, control the game like we wanted to. I felt like we just executed very efficiently and it led to the scoreboard.”

Burke is a big fan of Tom Brady, who has won seven Super Bowls with two different NFL franchises.
“My whole family are huge Michigan fans and we envy every Michigan player and we’ve been watching Tom Brady forever,” Burke said.

The Michigan devotion comes from his father being from Detroit.

When it comes to being a quarterback himself, “I feel like I’m pretty poised and I feel like my best trait is my accuracy and I have pretty good arm talent,” Burke said. “I feel like my accuracy is what separates me.”
The experience of playing the position is awesome, he added.

“I can affect every single play and be sort of the general on offense and control everything and make sure everything is running smoothly. With football in general, it is amazing to go out there with people I’ve known my whole life and grew up with and play an awesome sport with them. Just have fun.”

What separates Spartans from their opponents, Burke said, is “We’re very skilled and have discipline. We don’t go out there and push each other around, push the opponents around, make stupid plays, we just play within ourselves and play our ballgame.”

When Bixby beat Jenks, it marked its fourth win in five years against the Trojans.

“It was awesome. I’ve grown up, gone to Bixby and have known about the rivalry my whole life,” Burke said. “I’ve been watching all the years, every football game there, and it feels great to show everyone what we got, especially in beating our rivals.”

The game was also a preview of how competitive the Spartans will be when they move to 6AI next season.
“That will be very exciting for those guys,” Burke said in regards to his teammates who will be around for the move next season.

There will be more big games ahead as Bixby aims for its seventh title in eight seasons.

“Obviously, we have to take it one game at a time,” Burke said. “Moving forward, I feel like every opponent has some skill dudes so we just have to take it one game at a time and continue to play our ball game and just not let any other distractions around us.”