Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Cole Hardtke, Burlingame football

Burlingame football player Cole Hardtke is the Bay Area News Group’s boys high school athlete of the week for Nov. 18-23.

In online voting that ended at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Hardtke finished with 50.44% of the vote. Los Gatos football player Owen Panu took second at 34.81%.

Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.

Hardtke, a senior, rushed for 97 yards and a score in a 14-12 win over Piedmont Hills in the CCS Division IV semifinals. The Panthers will play Sacred Heart Prep in the championship game on Saturday at San Jose City College.

To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com by Monday at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.

We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.

Votes by email do not count. Only votes submitted through the online poll on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites will count.

Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.