Huskies top Dubois in first round of playoffs

The Burlington Huskies entered their first playoff game Friday as the No. 1 seed from the North Conference and hosted Dubois at home. “Once you get into the playoffs, it is like a whole new season. Win and advance or lose and you’re done,” said Coach Trent Aagard. “Dubois came in on a high note after their win against Casper Christian School. They had a lot of size and a couple of really good athletes. It was a good challenge for us and I thought Dubois represented themselves well.” 

In the first two minutes and on the Huskies first drive, Kole Walker connected with Paul McNiven for the first touchdown of the game. Just moments later, McNiven ran the ball for 58 yards for another touchdown. “Kole had a good day distributing the ball. Paul was a tough matchup for them to cover in space, so it was fun watching him have a nice afternoon,” said Aagard. “Offensively with the exception of the second quarter, we played pretty clean and were able to get what we needed.” 

Burlington had 199 rushing yards and 166 passing/receiving yards, with McNiven claiming 131 of those rushing yards and 118 of the receiving yards. Walker threw for 159 yards. McNiven added two more touchdowns, with Walker adding another. Chase Bassett had two touchdowns and Teddy Ball also made it in the endzone, adding up to a final score of 60-8. 

Defensively, the Huskies had a strong showing with over 70 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, one sack, a couple pass breakups, one forced fumble and a couple fumble recoveries. “Our D played well. Matt (Tempany) had a heck of a day. They kept running at him and he was up for the challenge. Trig (Aagard) did a good job in pass coverage for us. On the day, Dubois had 0 passing yards. That is an impressive stat in a 6-man game. Kole caused a big fumble and Chase (Bassett) was able to return that for a TD, so there were a lot of encouraging things happening.” 

With the win, Burlington advances to the second round of playoffs. They will host Encampment Friday at 1 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students. “We will have to build on this win to face a talented Encampment team. The past two years, we have had to face them in the semifinal game and they are a tough opponent. We will need to have a great team effort all week in practice and for the game Friday. We can’t afford to slip up this time of year,” said Aagard. 

BURLINGTON 60, DUBOIS 8

RUSHING – Burlington 16-199 (Paul McNiven, 6-131 and 2 touchdowns). 

PASSING – Burlington 9-of-13 for 166 yards (Walker 8-of-12 159 yards). 

RECEIVING – P. McNiven, 3 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns; Chase Bassett, 3 catches for 25 yards and 1 touchdown). 

DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS – Matt Tempany led the team with 36 defensive points (14 solo tackles, 5 assisted tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass break up), followed by Walker with 34.5 points (12 solo tackles, 5 assisted tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 forced fumble), and Chase Bassett with 24 points (3 solo tackles, 7 assisted tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 2 fumble recoveries.