By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports Editor
Coming back from an early 13-point deficit wasn’t exactly the issue for the Burlington High School football team Friday night at Delavan-Darien High School.
The issue was putting enough points on the board in comparison with the offense moving the ball.
Burlington pulled within 20-14 at the half, and tied the score in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold off the Comets in a 26-22 loss at Delavan.
Burlington is now 1-3 in the Southern Lakes Conference, meaning the team will have to win its remaining three games to earn a berth in the WIAA playoffs.
BHS coach Hans Block said as much as the Comets scored, the bigger problem was putting points on the board.
“We moved the ball readily up and down the field,” Block said. “They were up 13-0 early in the game, but from that point we definitely outplayed them.”
Block said the Demons ran more than 100 plays on offense, compared to the 60 or so Block said a high school team normally runs.
In addition, the Demons got in the red zone four times in the second half – but scored just once.
The Demons drove down to the Delavan three-yard line on the first drive of the second half, but came up without points when a fourth-down play didn’t work out.
After holding Delavan to three and out, Burlington went down the field. The Demons scored this time – on a three-yard run by Jayden Essman – but the Comets blocked the extra point.
Delavan then went down the field and scored themselves, going ahead 26-20. Burlington got the ball back, but then came up short again, fumbling the ball with less than two minutes left on the Delavan six-yard line.
Burlington used its timeouts, but rather than punt, the Comets took a safety and then kicked off. Burlington got off two plays, one a pass completion by Essman and then a Hail Mary pass that fell short.
“We played as well on defense as we’ve played all year,” Block said.
Ross Canales, who scored two of Burlington’s three touchdowns, rushed for 137 yards on 30 carries for the Demons. Essman rushed for 56 yards and also completed 11 of 22 passes for 109 yards.
Next up for Burlington is Friday night’s Homecoming game. It’s no picnic for the Demons, as they will host Wilmot. The Panthers are coming off their first loss of the season, 55-27 to Badger last week.
“We can’t win out if we don’t win this week,” Block said. “Our concentration is playing a very good Wilmot team.”
“I don’t know what motivates their kids,” Block said, “I know we’ve got to play better than we played last week.”
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