After last week’s victory against Olathe East, the Huskies found themselves moving on to the regional championship against Gardner Edgerton. 

Going into the game, Gardner had a 6-3 record just like BVNW, so the Huskies knew it would be a close game according to head coach Clint Rider. 

“I mean it’s a tough offense to prepare for,” Rider said. “We felt pretty good coming in, you know, defensively they do some different things and we had a game plan that because of conditions kind of shrunk the playbook quite a bit.”

As Rider mentioned, the weather conditions limited what the team could do. With winds up to around 15 mph, drizzling rain and temperatures hitting about 39 degrees, it made the game more difficult to play in according to senior quarterback Connor White.

“I mean, throwing game yeah, [the weather affected us] a little I would say just because the ball’s way harder to get a grip on anything. Harder for coaches to call [the game] too but at the same time coaches did a great job calling it and letting us do what we do best,” White said.

The Huskies started off strong, with senior Grant Stubblefield scoring the first touchdown of the night in the first three minutes of the first quarter. However, the GEHS Trailblazers responded with a touchdown not long after, making the score 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

“We’re never out of it until the final whistle blows so that was the mindset going into it, so we gotta keep it going,” White said.

The Huskies persisted throughout the remainder of the first half, however at the end of the half, they found themselves trailing GEHS 15-7.   

“I thought we made some halftime adjustments offensively that were good. We really leaned on the guys that we ride with and we got here with,” Rider said.

With 6:24 left in the third quarter, Stubblefield scored another touchdown, making the score 15-13. Although the Huskies continued to put points on the board, so did the Trailblazers, ending the third quarter with BVNW trailing GEHS 28-13.

Despite being behind going into the fourth quarter, the energy on the sidelines was very high according to Rider.

“I thought our guys were into the game and our sideline was doing the best they could to stay up and I don’t think our guys ever stopped believing they could win,” Rider said.  “It’s an indicator of this group, this group is not a group that’s ever going to quit and they went out how I knew they would.”

With 8:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Stubblefield scored his third and final touchdown of the night, making the final score 28-19, with the Trailblazers walking away with the win.

Despite the teams’ loss, White said he is appreciative of the team and how they have performed throughout the season.

“I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. This group has been special since day one, and we can attach that to the seniors too. I mean, we’ve stuck together for so long,” White said. “I’m just proud of everyone and how we competed all season.”