Prior to the game, the Blue Valley North Mustangs had a losing record of 0-6, but according to head coach Clint Rider, the team did not look at their opponent differently than any other.

“We talked about how it doesn’t matter what records are in rivalry games, they’re going to be ready to play us, they’re an EKL team. They just had a really close game last week so they’re playing with a lot of belief and I think they played that way tonight,” Rider said.

According to junior running-back Lovie Pulliam, although the team started off the game with low energy, they ended up stepping it up and ultimately getting the result they were looking for.

“It was a long fought game. We came out flat at the beginning but brought the energy at the end,” Pulliam said.

Despite coming out flat in the beginning of the game, the Huskies started off strong, with junior wide-receiver Gavin Hoffman scoring the first touchdown of the night with 11:51 left in the first quarter. BVNW would grow their lead to 14-0 later on in the second quarter, with quarterback Connor White running the ball into the end zone.

“I felt like we finished really well. Lovie stepped up when we needed it, the wide receivers came down with catches when we needed it and defense had a hell of a game too,” White said.

Similarly, Rider attributed a lot of the success of the game to the defensive line. 

“I thought our defense played very, very well. They were extraordinary. When we had that one touchdown drive there at the end, they put us in really good spots offensively,” Rider said. “I thought we did a really good job communicating in the secondary and we did a really good job of putting pressure on the quarterback which is good to see.”

Not even four minutes after the Huskies scored their second touchdown, the Mustangs responded with one of their own. Before the first half ended though, Hoffman scored his second touchdown of the night with 0:48 left, growing BVNW’s lead to 20-7.

“I think from time to time, we ran the ball really well. I thought the offensive line did a really good job,” Rider said. 

The score would not change throughout the entire third quarter, but at the beginning of the fourth quarter, BVN would score another touchdown, making it a 7-point game. 

With 5:12 remaining in the game, the Huskies answered with one last touchdown from Pulliam, making the final score 27-13.

As the playoffs near, Pulliam said that in order to have a chance to make it far, the team needs to stay focused on having a strong mentality.

“I feel like we have to prepare our minds right cause if we let off the gas for even a little bit, we will lose,” Pulliam said. 

The Huskies will play Bishop Miege, Oct. 22, in their last regular season game before playoffs begin.