High school football: MaxPreps Junior All-American Luther Burden stars in second 2020-21 season

Former Cardinal Ritter College Prep (St. Louis) standout Luther Burden III was named to the most recent MaxPreps Junior All-America first team after hauling in 31 receptions for 895 yards and 13 touchdowns during a shortened eight-game fall season. But the Oklahoma commit and nation's top-rated junior wide receiver was just warming up.  

The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder wraps up a six-game spring campaign for East St. Louis (Ill.) on Friday as the Flyers host Edwardsville (Ill.) in their season finale.

The five-star standout transferred to the Illinois power at the end of January and leads the team in receptions (27), receiving yards (564) and receiving touchdowns (five). Rated the nation's No. 10 recruit overall from the Class of 2022 by 247Sports, he also has a punt return for a score.

Due to COVID-19 and protocols, only 35 states completed football seasons in the fall, 11 opted for the spring and four didn't play at all.

During his career at Cardinal Ritter, Burden caught 124 passes for 2,941 yards and 39 touchdowns. He also helped lead the Lions to a Class 3 state title in basketball during his sophomore year. Friday night will be the second time that East St. Louis plays Edwardsville this spring after cruising to a 52-21 win on April 2. Burden had seven receptions for 130 yards and a score in that one. 

In his fall and spring seasons combined, Burden has 58 catches for 1,459 yards (25.1 yards per catch), which reveals why 39 FBS schools have made him scholarship offers.

When East St. Louis quarterback and 2019 MaxPreps Junior All-American Tyler Macon graduated early and enrolled at Missouri, freshman Robert "Pops" Battle stepped up. With Burden as his main target, Battle has accounted for nearly 1,400 yards of total offense and 16 touchdowns.

Battle and Burden figure to be one of the nation's best quarterback-wide receiver combinations in the fall.

With their vast talent returning, expect the Flyers (4-1) to be ranked in our preseason Top 100 rankings that will be released in the summer. They have won 22 of their last 24 games and claimed the Class 6A state title in 2019. 

Burden headlines a very strong recruiting class for Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma for 2022.

It also features four-star running back Raleek Brown, of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), Edmond Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) four-star wide receiver Talyn Shettron, Cooper (Lubbock, Texas) four-star linebacker Kobie McKinzie, Garland (Texas) four-star wide receiver Jordan Hudson, West Orange-Stark (Orange, Texas) three-star center Demetrius Hunter and Aledo (Texas) three-star tight end Jason Llewellyn.

Burden's unusual junior spit season isn't unique during an unusual pandemic school year. Senior quarterback Jayce Knapp returned to Wilsonville (Ore.) in the spring after playing the fall season in Texas at Del Valle. As told here, Knapp split time as starter at both schools, throwing for more than 2,000 yards and 27 touchdowns.