Huskies fall in close contest in Montana

With a few 6-man Varsity programs unable to compete this season, Burlington picked up a contest with Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Montana on Friday. CJI is a small school, made up of a few smaller towns, but finished last year with a 11-1 record, taking home the Montana Class C 6-Man championship. “The community of Chester and the surrounding areas really went out of their way to take care of us. They fed us a couple of times and sent travel bags with us, so hats off to them,” said Coach Trent Aagard. “It was a lot of extra effort and work for them.” 

With a 7.5 hour commute, the Huskies were at a disadvantage. “It took us most of the first quarter to get going. We are used to traveling, there are probably some things I could do differently to help in those situations. It was also quite an atmosphere they have up there. They are a successful program that the communities really get behind. It was one of the better offensive lines we have faced in a while.” 

Burlington had a great showing offensively with 401 yards. Senior Kole Walker had a monster game, leading the team with 197 rushing yards, 106 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 PAT kicks. Parker Cook and Chase Bassett also added in a touchdown apiece. Carsten Schlenker added a touchdown and an impressive 65-yard kick return. 

Defensively, the Huskies had 50 tackles as a team with an interception from Schlenker, a blocked kick from Walker and a pass break up and fumble recovery from Chase Bassett and another fumble recovery from Bradford Davidson. 

“I was proud of how our guys didn’t let the game get away from them. We battled back and held the lead on and off. It was a bit of an ugly game with lots of miscues, but we fought hard. I kept thinking okay, now we can start rolling than something else would happen, but we stayed right in the fight which is what you want to see. Overall, I think it was what our team needed, going and having to compete for a full game. It could have easily been us winning the close contest, but that’s not what happened. There is a lot of good to build upon and some things we need to make sure we get cleaned up as we head into the second half of the season,” said Aagard. 

Burlington’s JV squad took on Lovell on Monday and the full team will compete in Midwest on Friday with middle school boys’ kickoff at 3:00 and Varsity at 5:00 p.m. 

BURLINGTON 44, CHESTER-JOPLIN-INVERNESS MT 48

RUSHING – Burlington 35-213 (Kole Walker, 24-197, 3 TDs). PASSING – Burlington 12-of-23 for 124 yards (Walker, 8-of-17 for 106 yards; Chase Bassett, 4-of-6 for 18 yards and 1 TD). RECEIVING – Burlington 12-124 (Parker Cook, 5-67 with 1 TD; James McNiven, 4-40). 

DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS – Walker led the team with 30 points (9 solo tackles, 5 assisted tackles and 1 blocked kick), followed by Chase Bassett with 21 points (6 solo tackles, 4 assisted tackles and 1 Fumble recovery) and Carson Schlenker with 13 points (2 solo tackles, 4 assisted tackles and 1 interception)