By Ernie W. Webb III
LITTLE RIVER – Burlingame endured about a decade’s worth of adversity this season, battling through turmoil off the field, a school-wide COVID quarantine and a sluggish start of the season. They had to handle more Friday night when quarterback/linebacker Colby Middleton and linebacker Timmy Roberts were injured in the first half.
The Bearcats (6-3) showed a considerable amount of resolve against the defending state champion, pushing Little River (10-0) well into the fourth quarter before losing 42-26 in an Eight Man-Division I regional championship game.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way the kids played tonight. They gave everything they had,” said Burlingame coach Jeff Slater, now 65-18 in eight seasons. “We’ve had to deal with so much, and for a while, football really wasn’t fun with everything that was going on. But the kids kept showing up and we were playing our best ball at the end of year.”
Burlingame couldn’t have asked for a better start in a road playoff game, as the Bearcats took the opening kickoff and surprised the Redskins by throwing at will. Lance Noonan capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a 4-yard grab on a pass from Middleton, and Jose Arevalo tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 lead at the 8:16 mark.
On its first play from scrimmage, Little River fumbled, and Burlingame recovered at the 21-yard line. Even though the Bearcats threw an interception on fourth-and-goal, they forced a punt setting up a big special teams play. Kris Hovestadt broke a tackle near the 30, cut to the sideline and raced 57 yards for a 13-0 edge. Arevalo’s kick made it 14-0 late in the first quarter.
“We felt like we had a good game plan, and the kids executed it very well early,” Slater said. “Kris Hovestadt went out with one of the best games he’s played. He was great tonight.”
The Redskins responded quickly, marching 59 yards in four plays to pull with 14-6 early in the second quarter. Braden Young, who keyed the series with a 33-yard reception from Rylan Konen, found the end zone on a 1-yard run.
After forcing a three-and-out, Little River pulled even when Young took a pitch on a reverse and sprinted 56 yards for a score. Moments later, after another three-and-out by Burlingame, Young returned a punt 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Redskins their first lead at 20-14. All told, Little River scored 20 points in less than five minutes.
“They’re a great team, and we knew they’d respond,” Slater said. “Fortunately, we answered.”
Late in the first half as the Bearcats drove deep into Little River territory, Middleton suffered a neck injury on a short gain and stayed on the ground for several minutes before walking off the field with help from his teammates.
Freshman J.D. Tyson took over for Middleton after the delay. Tyson, who is a shade over 5-foot tall, appeared to surprise the Redskins with his elusiveness and cannon for an arm. Tyson scrambled away from three defenders while rolling to his left and zipped a strike to Hovestadt on second-and-goal from the 4 to tie the game at 20-20.
“We’ve dealt with so much adversity this year that when we lost Colby, the kids knew how to handle it,” he said. “We couldn’t have asked for much more than to be tied at halftime.”
Little River immediately began to attack the middle of the field, which Middleton typically locks down, in the second half, methodically driving into Burlingame territory on the first possession of the third quarter. But arguably the biggest play of the game came on a pass, when Konen connected with Braxton Lafferty on a 19-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-10. Young added the conversion, diving into the end zone on a pitch to the right side for a 28-20 advantage.
The Bearcats countered again behind Hovestadt, whose 20-yard run kick-started a 46-yard series. Tyson hit Noonan on a 20-yard pass over the middle, setting up Hovestadt’s 1-yard touchdown jaunt. The pass on the conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 28-26 late in the third quarter.
“We were right there; we just couldn’t finish,” Slater said. “You have to give Little River a lot of credit. There’s a reason they won the state championship last season.”
The Redskins took over from there, pushing the lead to 36-26 on Lafferty’s 1-yard run and a conversion pass from Konen to Ty Herzog early in the fourth period. Little River put the game away with 3:15 left on Konen’s 7-yard touchdown run.
The game was the final one for Burlingame seniors Noonan, Hovestadt, Andrew Zeller, Dawson Summers, A.J. Wyatt, Trever Quaney and Bobby Quaney.
“I can’t say enough about this group of seniors,” Slater said. “When they were freshmen, we went to Canton-Galva and didn’t play very well and lost in the same round of the playoffs that we did tonight. Then, when they were sophomores, we didn’t even make the playoffs. They did a great job of working to get us back into the playoffs, and they went out playing their best.”
Facing an imposing offensive line and punishing rushing attack, Burlingame held its own, limiting Little River to a little more than 4 yards per carry (175 yards on 41 attempts), far less than the Redskins’ average.
“Our defensive line played really well,” Slater said. “They did a good job of containing a very good running game.”
Middleton led Burlingame with 113 yards passing on 7-of-13 accuracy, while Noonan had 91 yards on seven receptions. Hovestadt added 40 yards rushing on nine carries.
Konen paced Little River with 191 total yards, including 146 yards through the air on 9-of-12 passing. Young had 141 yards, including 84 receiving and 57 rushing, while Lafferty finished with 119 yards (75 rushing, 42 receiving and 2 passing).
Little River plays at Madison on Friday in the sectionals.
LITTLE RIVER 42, BURLINGAME 26
Burlingame 14 6 6 0 — 26
Little River 0 20 8 14 — 42
BG – Lance Noonan 4 pass from Colby Middleton (Jose Arevalo kick)
BG – Kris Hovestadt 57 punt return (Arevalo kick)
LR – Braden Young 1 run (Pass failed)
LR – Young 56 run (Andrew Smith pass from Rylan Konen)
LR – Young 40 punt return (Run failed)
BG – Hovestadt 4 pass from J.D. Tyson (Pass failed)
LR – Braxton Lafferty 19 pass from Konen (Young run)
BG – Hovestadt 1 run (Pass failed)
LR – Lafferty 1 run (Ty Herzog pass from Konen)
LR – Konen 7 run (Run failed)
BG LR
First Downs 9 15
Rushes-Yards 22-56 41-175
Passing Yards 142 148
Passing 10-28-1 10-13-0
Total yards 198 323
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties 6-35 5-54
Punting 2-31.5 2-36.5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Burlingame – Hovestadt 9-40, Middleton 11-15, Tyson 1-1, Zeller 1-0. Little River – Lafferty 14-75, Young 6-57, Konen 21-43.
Receiving: Burlingame – Noonan 7-91, Heckman 2-47, Hovestadt 1-4. Little River – Young 5-84, Lafferty 3-42, Stephens 1-20, Konen 1-2
Passing: Burlingame – Middleton 7-13-1 113, Tyson 3-15-0 29. Little River – Konen 9-12-0 146, Lafferty 1-1-0 2.
