Area trio set to play in Shrine Bowl July 11

Aurora’s Ryan Marlatt, Nate Boerkircher and High Plains’ Keaton Van Housen will participate in this year’s postponed Shrine Bowl Game, set to be played July 11 at 2 p.m. at Ron and Carol Cope Stadium on UNK’s campus. All three area athletes will be teammates on the South team. The game was originally slated for June 6, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Marlatt missed much of his senior season with an injury, but was a staple on the Aurora offensive line when he was available and was the cornerstone of an offensive line that won a Class C1 state championship in 2018.

During his senior campaign, Boerkircher hauled in 35 passes for 467 yards and four touchdowns -- all team highs. He averaged just over 13 yards per reception with a long catch of 30 yards.

Van Housen carried the ball 302 times as a senior, eclipsing 2,283 yards with 34 rushing touchdowns during Osceola/High Plains’ Class D1 championship season. Van Housen averaged nearly eight yards per carry while averaging just over 175 yards per game. He ran for more than 100 yards in 10 of OHP’s 13 games.