Before the start of the varsity football game against Bishop Miege, Blue Valley Northwest recognized their senior football players for their work over the years. Head coach Clint Rider mentioned how proud he is of this group of seniors and the great example they continue to leave for the rest of the team.

“The appreciation that I have for all those guys and all that they have given to this program, how much sacrifice they’ve given, their leadership, not only just on the team, but throughout the building, and being good students [is huge], so you know, I love them,” Rider said. “I’m so glad that I get the opportunity to coach those guys and they made it a memorable night.” 

Throughout the night, many seniors showcased their skill set. Senior Grant Stubblefield scored three touchdowns, and senior Peyton Atchley scored one touchdown. On the defensive end, senior Aiden Beheymer intercepted a pass, and senior Will Hadley had a fumble recovery on a blocked punt, which on the next play led to a touchdown. Rider believes with it being senior night, those key plays were meaningful for the players. 

“To see those guys highlighted tonight is special and kind of a trademark of the night,” Rider said.

This game was Stubblefield’s first night back since his injury. Although grateful to have Stubblefield back, Rider mentions how great of a job junior Lovie Pullman did while Stubblefield was gone.

“It’s nice to have Grant back, but I mean, I think Lovie stepped in and did an incredible job the last couple of weeks, and he had a couple of really big runs tonight, Rider said. “But you know, Grant just commands the eyes of the defense so much and commands so much attention. To have him back tonight was just a spark plug for our offense.”

Although it was his first game back since his injury, Stubblefield started off strong, scoring the first two touchdowns for the Huskies. The score would remain 14-0 throughout the remainder of the first quarter.

Senior quarterback, Connor White, credited some of the success of the night to his team having his back when needed. He believes the team needs to perform like this more often, and if so, the future ahead is bright for the Huskies. 

 “[The team] did amazing, I mean the o-line really pushed well, and Grant and his game back was amazing. Our receivers were making plays when it was needed and the defense came up very big,” White said.

Rider believes White played extremely well, even under pressure, and he has been a key player this season and helped them win games.

“The thing about Connor is he does a good job running the offense, but tonight he stepped up in big moments and made big plays, like the third and eight right before we ended up scoring, and then the last touchdown throw. Just to see him have the poise he had tonight was I think a big deal,” Rider said.

With 0:09 remaining in the first half, Atchley scored a touchdown for BVNW, making the score 21-0 at the start of the second half. Rider gave credit to keeping Miege scoreless the entire first half to the defensive line and defensive coordinator coach, Kollin Ahern.

“Defensively for them to put a shut-out up in the first half against such a good offense, I mean it just says a lot about the growth that our guys have made,” Rider said. “They’ve been getting better and better throughout the year, and we had to replace 10 starters at the beginning of the year from last year. Those guys have just continued to grow and get more comfortable in their roles and do everything coaches ask them to do.”

White explained that the main message taught to the players this week was to “finish”, and said how this game showcased how significant that message was.  

 “Going up 21-0 [in the first half], that’s big. Then we started fighting back and we just finished, that was a keyword this week, to finish,” White said.

In the second half, Bishop Miege began to step up their game, making the score 21-21 with 9:46 left in the game. Although Miege caught up later in the game, Stubblefield expresses how proud he is that his team did not give up in the end. He believes it is important for his team to give their one-hundred percent effort throughout all four quarters.

“We fought even when adversity hit us. They started coming back, and previously in the season that’s when we usually fold, but we stood strong,” Stubblefield said. “We’ve proved we played tough games, and if we’d just play four full quarters, we’d win a lot more games, so we just gotta play [solid] all four quarters.” 

Similarly, White thinks that the team can not stop trying in the later quarters, even if they are in the lead. In order to succeed in the playoffs, he believes that the team needs to have the same momentum as they did in this game, but they can not let their guards down.

“I feel like we need to perform like we did tonight. Get off to a hot start, but then we can’t let it go. We can’t let up 21 unanswered and then have to fight back. So we got to step on the pedal and keep it going,” White said.

The Huskies did not stop fighting though. With 0:23 left in the game, Stubblefield scored his third and final touchdown of the night, making the final score 28-21.

Going into this game, Miege had a 6-1 record, however, according to Rider,the team did not treat Miege differently than any other team.

“It doesn’t matter [who the team is]. Last week, Blue Valley North kind of made it a game with us, and they hadn’t won a game yet. Any weekend in our league, you’ve got to be prepared to play your best football, and obviously, our guys are ready to go from the start,” Rider said. “Every week is gonna be a dogfight.” 

With sub-state beginning Thursday, Oct. 27, Rider explains what the team is expecting for playoffs and what they are doing to prepare.

“It’s win or go home now. The pressure’s on, and I think this team thrives on that. We’ve got to continue to diversify the passing game and continue to get more comfortable when we have to throw the football. In the playoffs, we’re going to be in tight [games] like this, so we just need to put ourselves in pressure situations in practice, and make sure we’re ready for those moments,” Rider said.