By Mike Ramczyk
BURLINGTON – The Burlington football team couldn’t have asked for a better situation Friday night at home in a WIAA Division 2 Level 1 playoff against visiting Wilmot.
Seemingly a microcosm of a season that’s featured dramatic, pulse-pounding finishes, out-of-this-world plays and nail-biting comebacks, the fourth-seeded Demons found themselves down 20-7 at halftime and in jeopardy of exiting the second season after one game.
But in the face of adversity, Burlington, led by the heroic antics of Brad Burling, Ty Wiemer and a defense that makes its living from halftime adjustments, once again showed its never-say-die attitude and unwavering will to win.
The Demons scored 14 unanswered second-half points, including a 54-yard, Hail Mary-like touchdown pass, and Wilmot’s missed field goal as time expired cemented Burlington’s first playoff win since 2005, a 21-20 thriller.
It was the third time in only four weeks Burlington overcame a second-half deficit to win.
The Demons improved to 6-4 overall in their first home playoff game since 2006. They will travel to Greendale next Friday to battle the Greendale Panthers, the No. 1-ranked team in the state in Division 2. Greendale, the defending Division 2 state runner-up, is now 10-0 after a 56-6 beating of Bradley Tech Friday night.
The script couldn’t have been written any better, as first-year Burlington coach Steve Tenhagen helped deliver a long-awaited playoff win at home for his alma-mater. After three stressful, last-second wins in four weeks, he joked with the players after the game.
“I asked them if they’re trying to put me under in my first year as head coach,” he said. “This is several times it came down to the last play of the game. It’s unbelievable. They just keep finding ways to win.”
“Wilmot played a heck of a football game. We just keep finding ways to make plays when the game is on the line. It’s been a fun ride.”
The Play
The Demons took their first lead of the game on a touchdown pass that could simply be described as “The Play” and will undoubtedly be referenced for years among Burlington football enthusiasts.
Down 20-14 with just over six minutes to play, the Demons faced a third and 14 from their own 46. Burlington quarterback Brad Burling took the shotgun snap and scrambled after the protection broke down. He darted toward the left sideline, but Wilmot defenders swarmed. After shaking a couple guys and running backwards, Burling spotted a streaking Ty Wiemer running a deep post far downfield.
Burling heaved it with everything he had roughly 40 yards. The high-arching pass landed in the arms of Wiemer, who skied over a Wilmot defender and came down with the ball. He out-ran two Panthers the final 10 yards for the score.
“I knew Brad was going to get out of it,” Wiemer said. “After the catch, I saw green and sprinted. I heard the crowd. It was crazy.”
“The call was supposed to be a comeback to the left. I kept running, we made eye contact, and he threw it up. The ball was in the air forever.”
Time stood still as the ball floated down the field. Burling said he trusted the skills of Wiemer, who caught a similar pass for 40 yards earlier in the game.
“Ty’s got good speed and he can break away from the defense,” Burling said. “I saw him breaking across the field and gave him a shot to go up and get it. Props to him.”
“I put everything into that throw. We’ve been down a lot of times in the second half. But we always find a way to come back.”
Burling’s best Fran Tarkenton impression wasn’t necessarily a shot in the dark.
“We work the scramble drill in practice,” Tenhagen said. “The deeper receivers find ways to come back to the ball, and our shorter routes look to get over the top. We have some athletes out on the edge that can do some of those things. Ty made a great play.”
Another wild finish
Wilmot wasn’t finished, though, as it marched all the way to the Demons’ 9-yard line behind a big run from Ty Mulcahy.
On second and goal with less than a minute to play, Wilmot quarterback Bryce Kothe rolled right trying to find a receiver. Burlington’s pass rush forced Kothe to throw the ball out of bounds. Though he was outside of the tackles, the referees determined Kothe didn’t have an intended receiver and called intentional grounding. The 10-yard penalty and loss of down pinned Wilmot back at the Burlington 20.
After the Demons stuffed a third-down run, Wilmot kicker Adam Pacey, who was good earlier from 40 and 23 yards but missed wide left with 8:18 remaining, lined up for the do-or-die attempt with 2.3 seconds on the clock.
Burlington packed 6-foot-3 seniors Frankie Hozeska and James Tully in the middle for the block, but Pacey’s kick was low and wide to the left.
Burlington players and fans rushed the field as Panther players collapsed on the field in heartbreak.
The Burlington defense held the Panthers scoreless in the second half after allowing two touchdowns and two field goals in the first half.
“On our last stand there, we really came together and felt like a team,” said defensive lineman Hegeman Tiedt. “We did our jobs and relied on each other to do their jobs.”
“We kept finding ways to hold them to field goals and field goal attempts,” Tenhagen said. “We had a number of great hustle plays. They had big plays that looked like they could score. Erik Viel ran one down. We had guys making tackles down at the 5 and 10 on big plays, and we ended up getting stops.”
“We came out and executed a bit better in the second half. Brad has done a tremendous job extending plays and finding open receivers.”
On Burlington’s first drive of the second half, the Demons went 80 yards in 84 seconds to cut the lead to 20-14. The four-play drive was capped by Frank Hozeska’s 10-yard touchdown grab.
A hard, but brief rain shower lathered the field on Wilmot’s ensuing possession, and the Panthers threatened inside the Burlington 10. But a fumbled pitch to the Wilmot running back turned into a fumble recovery.
Wilmot had another chance to go up two touchdowns, but it settled for a field goal try with 8:18 remaining. The miss opened the door for the game-winning drive.
Burling finished 11-for-15 with 250 yards and two touchdowns and added 70 yards and a score on the ground.
Wiemer led the Demons with three catches for 133 yards. Tully added four catches for 59 yards.
Viel paced Burlington with 10 tackles.
Wilmot out-gained Burlington, 440-340.
Burlington will have its work cut out next Friday in Greendale, as the Demons will try to stop Josh Ringelberg, one of the best quarterbacks in the state. The gunslinger passed for more than 2,000 yards this season and ran for nearly 600.
The hype doesn’t matter to Tenhagen.
“You play the game for a reason,” he said. “Greendale has a tremendous football team. But you take the approach you’re playing a game next Friday night. Anything can happen in those games.”
– Check out more coverage in Thursday’s Burlington Standard Press, including game photos and a feature on Burling.
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