You will want to stop by Stover’s, Hinkle’s, Turkey Hill or wherever you can buy the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era to pick up your newspaper so you have your own copy of this article about the Burke family lineage of Crimson Tide football .

Marty Heisey / Staff From left, assistant coaches Tom and Mike Burke II, head coach Mike Burke III and receiver Mike Burke IV will be working together on Friday night as Columbia hosts Millersburg in the Class A semifinals.

The Tide’s first family

BY MATT BLYMIER, Sports Staff

Playing in the District Three football playoffs is what the town of Columbia has been accustomed to.

Being led in those playoff games, either on the sideline or on the field, by the Burke family is the only thing the town knows.

In the 30 years of the District Three playoffs, Columbia has made the postseason 17 times.

In all of those games a Burke has been there.

“We’ve evolved in football as a family. Everyone came through the ranks as a ball boy, to player to coach,” said Mike Burke Jr., the patriarch of the family that includes his sons Mike Burke III and Tom and grandson Michael Burke IV. “It’s been in the blood and we enjoy the heck out it.”

Burke Jr. was a quarterback for the Crimson Tide in the late 1960s and led Columbia to a Lancaster County co-championship in 1969. He went on to Millersville, where he was a four-year starter, before becoming the head coach at his alma mater. In his 19 years as the head man, Burke Jr. went 138-57-1, with only one losing season, and 11 district playoff appearances.

“We took a lot pride in making districts,” Burke Jr. said. “You had to be in the top four back then and there were more Single-A teams.”

Columbia made its first trip to the playoffs in 1985. In 1988 the Tide won its first playoff game with Mike Burke III, the current Columbia head coach, as quarterback. They reached their first championship game before losing to Camp Hill.

Burke III joined his father’s staff in the mid 90s, helping Columbia win its first — and only — championship in 1995. Also on that staff was Burke Jr.’s brother Steve. Burke Jr.’s nephews, James, Joe and Andrew Gambler also played for Columbia from 1986 through 1997.

The family legacy grew even more just before the turn of the century when Burke Jr.’s youngest son, Tom, was the Tide’s field general. With Tom on the field, Burke Jr. as the head coach and offensive coordinator, and Burke III the defensive coordinator, Columbia played in two district playoff games.

To read the entire article, click here, or better yet, pick up a copy of the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era.