Huskies fall to Little Snake River

The Huskies fell short in their third state championship matchup with Little Snake River on Saturday. 

“It was a tough loss for us,” said Coach Trent Aagard. “We knew LSR was going to be ready and that we would have to play exceptionally well. Hats off to them. They earned it this year; they played hard and didn’t make many mistakes.” 

Burlington scored on their first drive with a pass from Jordan Broederlow to Rykael Andrew in the endzone, but Little Snake answered back with four touchdowns in the first quarter. The Huskies did add another touchdown from Bassett on a 3-yard run but ended the first quarter trailing 28-14. “I thought if we could take away #4 (Bridger Cozzens) we could get it done, but unfortunately we weren’t able to do that and to complicate things we had a few errors on us.” Cozzens would prove to be a hard force to stop and ended the game with an impressive 483 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. It was a battle back and forth for the majority of the game but six touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters from Little Snake River bumped them to the win, 87-50.

Aagard doesn’t want to focus on the mistakes, but rather the heart of his team. “I’m extremely proud of the ways our team went down and competed. We played with a lot of guts. We had guys come in and do some incredible things to help keep us in the game. I know if you simply look at the final scores, you will not get an accurate depiction of what this game was. It was two really good teams trading blows for most of the game. Unfortunately, we got down early but we kept battling back to keep the game within striking distance. It wasn’t until the last half of the fourth quarter that things got ugly. I hope people are able to appreciate the things these players go through. They feel the highs and the lows but continue to go out and give their all for the team. I was most proud of how our players interacted with each other. I saw teammates that rather than being angry about mistakes, lifted up their brothers and continued to have each others’ backs. All of us who put anything into this season have things we would like to have back, but it was impressive for me to see how our guys stayed together throughout and even though this game meant a lot to everyone, I don’t think we ever fractured as a team. That says something about the guys we have.” 

Offensively, the Huskies had 397 yards. Andrew, Bassett and Kyler Winters all contributed two touchdowns and Weston Gotfredson added one with an additional six points from Brikton Wardell’s field goal kicks and Winters added another two points with a field goal. “I thought Jordan, Joe and Brikton ran the ball well,” said Aagard. “LSR has been shutting teams down all year. I thought we did a great job of attacking them and taking what we could get. Kole came in and had some big throws for us that really kept us in it and gave us some life when Jordan Broederlow went down. Kole, Jordan B and Joe did a good job of getting the ball where we needed. Weston, Rykael, Jordan C., Kyler and Joe all had some big catches and runs. It was a good effort against a very good and aggressive defense.” 

Defensively, the Huskies had 30 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception, two pass breakups and two blocked kicks. “There were times we were able to hold them, however they were able to make some big plays on fourth and long,” said Aagard. “I thought Joe kind of sent the standard for us on defense, but other guys also worked hard. Weston’s interception may have been the first one they have thrown all year. I know we would like to change a few things about our performance, but you can’t question the guys’ desire to work hard.

“I want to specifically recognize the work the senior class put in. They have been part of this for years. They have been a big reason for some of the success we have had as a program over the last few years. I thought they played with a lot of heart. Every one of them came in and contributed. I’m super proud of how they have all worked themselves into being contributors. It was an honor to coach this team. Our guys are first class. They have worked hard all season and deserved the chance to bring another trophy home. Unfortunately that didn’t happen but there is no other team that I would want to be a part of,” ended Aagard. 

BURLINGTON 50, LITTLE SNAKE RIVER 87

RUSHING – Burlington 29-125 (Jordan Broederlow 8-45; Brikton Wardell 4-35; Joe Bassett 12-30; Jordan Casey 2-24). 

PASSING – Burlington 27-of-38 for 272 yards (Kile Walker 7-of-12 for 103 yards; Broederlow 9-of-12 for 76 yards; Bassett 6-or-7 for 49 yards; Casey 4-of-5 for 39 yards; Rykael Andrew 1-of-2 for 5 yards). 

RECEIVING – Bassett 8-58; Weston Gotfredson 6-63; Casey 6-53; Kyler Winters 4-45; Andrew 2-33; Wardell 1-20. 

DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS – Bassett led the way with 6 solo tackles, followed by Gotfredson with 5 solo tackles, 1 assisted, 1 sack, 1 tackles for loss and 1 interception; Kyler Winters with 4 solo tackles and 1 pass breakup; Wardell with 4 solo tackles and 1 forced fumble.