Last Friday night was memorable. The conditions, the playoffs, defending 6A state champs, home game. It was all setting up for a storybook football game that I am positive will be talked about for years to come in the community. Blue Valley Northwest came into town with a 6-3 record feeling good about their chances of repeating as 6A champs. Little did they know, the Blazers had something to say about that.

Offensively, there isn’t much else to say other than the fact that we outright physically dominated the Husky defensive unit play in and play out. Running about five different offensive plays on the night, the Blazer offensive line and tight ends were able to consistently blow the defense off the ball and create gaps for our ball carriers to squeeze through. A huge success offensively was the Blazers ability to hold on to the football in the extremely wet conditions. This and just lining up to execute every play were key factors in putting up points. Dawson Kindler and Bravin Powell carried the rock the majority of the night being absolute battering rams into the Husky defenders. I’m confident that they were more sore Saturday morning than we were. At the end of the day, the offensive line deserves MVP for the big win.

Defensively, we did a great job. Giving up minimal yards to perhaps one of the most explosive athletes in the state of Kansas. Only giving up 19 points and forcing a turnover deep in their territory were huge factors in securing the win. The defensive line was a huge force the entire game, getting after the quarterback and shutting down any cutback lanes for the running backs. The best thing about our defensive effort on Friday was the swarm of Blue and White to every tackle. Any offense is demoralized when the entire defense is tackling the ball carrier each and every play. Much like the offense, the defense ,as a whole, was more physical throughout the entire night and made the most out of the inclement weather to secure one of the biggest victories in recent memory. The D-Line earns the MVP this week.

One of the biggest moments of the game, however, didn’t happen on offense or defense. Early in the second half, the Huskies had answered the Blazer lead with a touchdown of their own, putting the Blazers only up two points with a lot of ball to be played. Cue special teams standout Zaine Mayfield. Zaine was promoted to kick returner against Shawnee Mission East and had some solid returns. This week he was deep again waiting for an opportunity. With the wind at their backs, the Huskies opted to kick it deep directly to Zaine. After dropping the ball, Zain swept it back up and took off through the mix of coverage guys finding his way into an opening and finishing the play of the year with a 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown putting the Blazers back up nine points and stealing any wind out of the sails of the BVNW sideline!

Final Score: Blazers (73) 28, Huskies (6-4) 19