By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
BURLINGTON – With five fourth-down conversions, including two in overtime that led to the go-ahead touchdown, Elkhorn lived on the edge all night long in a battle for Southern Lakes supremacy Friday night in Burlington.
But no worries. The Demons, down 34-28 and needing a touchdown and extra point to win it, were confident.
After all, Burlington was coming off a four-overtime victory last week and boasted comeback wins the previous two weeks. In all, the Demons overcame second-half deficits to take leads in four games this season.
Moreover, minutes earlier at the end of the fourth quarter, Burlington drove 60 yards in two minutes to tie the game at 28-28 and force overtime.
Surely, the home team, with a chance to win the outright conference championship, would tie it up at 34 and kick the extra point to win it.
Elkhorn’s defense hadn’t really stopped Burlington’s high-powered passing game for most of the night, but it saved its best for last.
Burlington quarterback Brad Burling hit Brian Dankle on a wide receiver screen, but after Dankle spun, Elkhorn forced a fumble and Richie Heidemann pounced on it. The Elks escaped Burlington with a 34-28 victory and finished in a four-way tie for the conference championship with the Demons, Waterford and Wilmot.
Despite the loss, Burlington still earned a share of the SLC championship, its first since 1996.
After the game, Burlington coach Steve Tenhagen said it was a difficult way to end the season.
“You obviously play every game to win it,” he said. “We had been in these situations all year long. We battled, we just didn’t make a play when we needed to.”
“Elkhorn did a great job offensively. They are big and physical. We had confidence in overtime. I thought we were going to score and kick the PAT to win. Give credit to them. They made a great play to strip the ball and got the win.”
Elkhorn coach Tom Lee, now in his sixth season, said the Elks have completely bought in this season.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” Lee said. “They gave everything they had. To get conference champs on a play like a fumble, you can’t expect anything better than that. We respect Burlington’s offense so much that we knew we had to limit their possessions.”
“The camaraderie that the kids have is great, and they have bought in in the weight room,” Lee added. “They’ve spent a tremendous amount of time getting more physical in the weight room.”
Elkhorn dominated the line of scrimmage in the first half, as leading rusher Keenan Leahy racked up 175 of his 229 yards. The Elks took a 21-14 lead into the half.
In the second half, the Demons’ defense clamped down, holding Elkhorn to seven points.
It started on Elkhorn’s first drive. Burlington forced a fumble and recovered near midfield. Three plays later, Hunter Melby took a pitch on third and three, cut back, broke a tackle and jetted down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21-21.
Both teams exchanged punts, the latter of which was a 45-yarder that pinned Burlington at its own 5. The Demons couldn’t muster a first down and kicked again.
Both teams punted again. On Burlington’s kick, with senior James Tully avoided pressure and got off a 45-yard punt on what could have been a disastrous play.
With 9:48 remaining, Elkhorn embarked on a 70-yard touchdown drive without their top two-way lineman, Ian McDonald, who was helped off the field.
On a pivotal fourth and 5, Leahy ran a counter left, which hadn’t been stopped all night, and picked up the first down. Later, on third and 1 at the 5, Keaton Verhoeven, in his third start at running back this season, muscled it up the gut and dragged Demon tacklers into the end zone for the 28-21 lead.
With four minutes left, Burlington’s high-octane attack took flight. Burling got things going with a 20-yard scramble to his left. On the next play, in Elkhorn territory, Burling started right, scrambled left and found Brian Dankle, who tip-toed in bounds for a 30-yard catch at the Elkhorn 5.
Two plays later, Burling snuck to the left pile-on, was upended and landed on his head for the 1-yard, game-tying score.
On Elkhorn’s last drive, which started with 2:10 on the clock, the Elks converted two fourth downs and had a chance to get into field-goal range at the Burlington 43. But on first down, Burlington’s Chris Marks sacked quarterback Dylan Peterson for a four-yard loss, which ultimately led to the end of regulation.
Elkhorn took the ball first in overtime. Leahy picked up four-yard fourth-down runs at the 19 and 7-yard lines, and Jordan Barr capped it off with a two-yard score. Elkhorn’s kicker pushed the ball to the right on the extra-point attempt and left a brief window for the Demons to score and tack on the PAT with the sure-footed Dankle.
But the crucial fumble ended the game, and Elkhorn players sprinted in jubilation as students stormed the field. Several Burlington players dropped to their knees in disappointment, seemingly in disbelief that the game could end that way.
“We wanted to win, but it didn’t work out,” Tenhagen said. “We’re going to the playoffs. We’re conference champs, and we have an opportunity to play next week.”
Leahy led all players with 229 yards on 31 carries with three touchdowns.
“We have one of the biggest, baddest lines in the whole conference,” he said. “We’re a giant group of friends playing a sport together. We all love each other, and we all trust each other.”
Elkhorn dominated time of possession, 28:13 to 19:47. The Elks had a whopping 78 plays, including 69 rushes, compared to Burlington’s 48 plays.
Burling finished 10-for-17 with 97 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He added 119 rushing yards.
Melby had 85 yards on nine carries.
Dankle led the Demons with 47 receiving yards on four catches.
Elkhorn totaled 395 yards. Verhoeven had 92 yards on 21 carries. Barr added 67 yards.
Defensively, Hegeman Tiedt led Burlington with 16 tackles. Marks had 13 tackles.
Cal Tully added nine tackles and a sack. Reid Moen and Logan Rusk each tallied 10 tackles.
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