Michaels' four touchdowns leads Burlington to 6-man state championship

The Rattlers reached the state title game with a decisive 47-22 win against Dubois. Burlington outlasted Encampment 80-73 to pair six-man’s top seeds against each other for the championship.

Aagard said his team learned from last season’s state title loss to Snake River and is approaching the game differently. Snake River coach Jack Cobb said for his team to win, it needed to make open field tackles.

“They weren’t expecting much of a game,” Burlington senior Joseph Stanworth said. “They’ve been winning for the last three years and they weren’t expecting the product that they saw on the field. They were expecting to blow us out.”

Added Burlington junior Jordan Casey: “We thought we could find holes up front and we knew it was going to be on us to make the right read to run inside or outside.”

The Huskies jumped on the Rattlers and out gained Snake River 130-62 in the first quarter and nearly doubled them in time of possession 6:18-3:42

“We had to match their intensity,” Aagard said. “We did a good job of that and traded plays in a battle of the titans. Our game plan was great although I would’ve liked to be a little more comfortable today. Regardless, this was one for the record books.”

Snake River put itself in an early hole when senior Seth Maxson fumbled, giving the Huskies the ball at their own 26-yard line. Burlington quarterback Jordan Michaels scored three plays later. Michaels finished with four touchdowns on the day.

“Jordan Michaels and Joe Bassett are the guys for us that make plays when we need them,” Casey said.“They couldn’t be stopped today, and we couldn’t have done it without them. Our team kept the energy up all day which kept us locked in.”

The Rattlers refused to let the game get out of hand and responded by outscoring Burlington in the second quarter 20-6. Snake River’s Bridger Cozzens got the Rattlers going, capping off a quick four-play 47-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run.

The teams traded scores before Snake River’s defense showed its first signs of life by forcing a turnover on downs. The Huskies nearly got off the hook and stopped the Rattlers’ offense but an encroachment penalty on fourth-and-5 gave Snake River a new set of downs.

With nine seconds remaining in the first half, Snake River tied the game 26-26. Snake River’s momentum carried into the third quarter as Cozzens scored his second touchdown of the day on his fifth gain of 10 yards or more.

With the feeling of the game changing, Michaels gave Burlington the lift it needed by leading a scoring drive and later intercepting Snake River quarterback Mason Jones.

“This was a heartbreaking loss for our seniors,” Cobb said. “We played hard enough to win, we just didn’t get what we needed. So, hats off to Burlington. Trent (Aagard) had his boys ready and they’re big and strong. They took their loss from a year ago and became more of a power team.”

Unfortunately for the Huskies, Michaels fumbled the ball back two plays later and the Rattlers recovered. Snake River’s Isaiah Skalberg recovered the fumble.

Snake River capitalized off of the fumble and scored three plays later giving the Rattlers a 39-34 lead. The game continued to look bleak for Burlington as the fourth quarter began when the Huskies were held to a 4th and 12.

Michaels’ next pass was intercepted by Cozzens and Snake River took over looking to run the clock out. It was unable to do so continuing to give Burlington life. The Huskies persistence paid off as junior Joe Bassett scored on a 20-yard rush to put the Huskies up 42-39 with 3:57 left to play.

With its back against the wall, Snake River brought the game down to the final play. On fourth-and-12, Jones rolled out and found Cozzens for a big gain. Cozzens picked up not just the yardage needed for a first down but took the ball all the way to the Burlington 3-yard line.

“Our boys played hard enough to win,” Cobb said. “But this loss doesn’t take away from what this team has accomplished. These seniors just played in their third straight championship game and they’re just 17- to 18-year-old boys.

“When you haven’t lost in 30 something games it hurts. We are going to come back with a different taste in our mouths.”

The Huskies faced first-and-goal against Snake River with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Fortunately for Burlington, the Husky defense stiffened when it needed it most.

“Our team wanted the defense to get the ball back with enough time to score,” Aagard said. “But we didn’t need that. Our defense finished the game right there.”

Three consecutive run attempts by Snake River were stuffed at the goal line. The final play of the game fell incomplete and was flagged for illegal formation on Snake River.

“We knew they wanted to drive the ball up the middle,” Stanworth said. “We hadn’t really been able to stop it all day, but we pinched the middle and had to bear down and make a play.”

BURLINGTON 42, SNAKE RIVER 39

Snake River…… 6 20 13 0 — 39

Burlington…… 20 6 8 8 — 42

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

B: Gotfreds 15 pass from Michaels (Wardell kick failed), 7:18.

SR: Skalberg 31 pass from H. Jones (Cozzens kick failed), 5:13.

B: Bassett 1 run (Wardell kick failed), 2:28.

B: Michaels 6 run (Winters kick), :41.

Second Quarter

SR: Cozzens 17 run (Marquez pass from Jones), 9:21.

B: Bassett 12 pass from Michaels (Winters kick failed), 7:45.

SR: Maxson 1 run (run failed), 5:42.

SR: Kunsm 2 pass from Jones (Skalberg pass from Jones), :09.

Third Quarter

SR: Cozzens 16 run (Duncan pass from Jones), 8:07.

B: Casey 19 pass from Michaels (Winters kick), 7:10.

SR: Cozzens 3 run (Jones pass failed), 3:29.

Fourth Quarter

B: Bassett 20 run (Winters kick), 4:01.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Snake River: Maxon 26-170, Cozzens 18-104. Burlington: Michaels 18-113, Bassett 13-61, Broderlo 3-17.

Passing

Snake River: Jones 4-9-1 109 Burlington: Michaels 11-18-1 134, Broederlo 1-1-0 0, Andrew 2-3-0 34.

Receiving

Snake River: Kunsman 2-12, Cozzens 1-66, Skalberg 1-31. Burlington: Gotfredson 2-35 , Bassett 6-34, Casey 2-51, Michaels 1-31, Andrew 2-8, Maroni 1-9.