No. 16 Huskies come up short against No. 1 Trailblazers, finish season with a 55-27 loss

The varsity football team fell in the first round of sub-state to Gardner Edgerton, 55-27, on Friday Oct. 27 at Gardner Edgerton. In the loss, freshman quarterback Mikey Pauley had 276 yards on 17-33 throwing with 3 touchdowns and an interception. The Huskies finished without a win in the 2018 season with an 0-9 record.

Sophomore Avion Tucker (26) sits on bench after the game against Gardner Egerton on Friday Oct. 27 at Gardner Egerton. The Huskies fell to the trailblazers, 55-27.

Ethan Knauth, Online Copy Editor

Starting the second half with a 28 point deficit, the Huskies looked to wash away their first half performance through the recovery of a fumble at the 27 yard line of Gardner Edgerton. On the very next play, head coach Clint Rider utilized one of the tricks up his sleeve, having freshman Mikey Pauley throw a backwards pass to junior receiver Jake Dolesh, who then threw to a wide open senior Tanner Sample for a 27 yard touchdown.

Previously using the play against Blue Valley West which resulted in another a touchdown, Sample said he was worried that he might commit a simple mistake.

“I didn’t realize how wide open I was until I looked at the film,” Sample said. “The thing that was going through my mind was ‘Don’t drop the ball.’”

The trick play was one of two touchdowns Sample had on the night, who also finished with 94 yards to back up his scoring totals.

Carrying the receiving load earlier in the game, sophomore J. Michael Sturdivant finished with 8 receptions for 125 yards and the games first touchdown. Sturdivant said that although the running game was unable to get going, the passing game was able to carry the torch through good blocking and solid throws from Pauley.

In only his third game of the season, Sturdivant was able to total a touchdown in each of the games he played. Despite a tough 2018 season for the Huskies, Sturdivant said he’s hopeful for the future.

“It felt natural to get back out here and play with my guys,” Sturdivant said. “I’m sad it ended like this. It just shows you what’s to come and what the future is like.”

On a night where the defense struggled to get a foothold in shutting down either of the Trailblazer’s passing or running games, senior Jack Hungerford said he was proud of his younger teammates for their perserverence.

With this being the last game of Hungerford’s BVNW career, he said despite the ups and downs the program had over the years he was proud to be a Husky.

“It means the world to me to put on this white or purple Husky jersey,” Hungerford said. “We’ve been through so much together and don’t look over Husky football. It’s making a rebound.”

Sample said he found a family in the Husky football community.

“I knew if I was ever having a rough day I could always come back to the football team,” Sample said. “I could count on these people. I could count on the coaches to pick me up.”

In his second season in charge, Rider took a step back from his debut season as head coach as he was unable to record a win. Despite this, Rider said he has never coached a better senior class.

“I have never had a senior class work harder, ever,” Rider said. “I’ve been around some really good groups of kids. This is probably the finest group of young men that I have ever coached.”

Continuing his praise for the 2019 class, Rider said they were able to set a foundation for the years to come. Rider said the Huskies will return a large amount of the defense and skill players, which is something BVNW can build off of.

“On the offensive side, we’ll return all of our skill positions except for one. So we’ll return a lot of skill,” Rider said. “Defensively we’ll return quite a few guys. It’s nice to have a lot of pieces coming back on that side.”

As one of the skill players returning, Sturdivant promised next season will not resemble the 2018 season.

“It’s not going to be [like] this season,” Sturdivant said. “It’s going to be a movie.”