Demons knock off new coach’s old team
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
BURLINGTON – On Friday night, one of the most exciting finishes in Burlington football history made the Demons playoff eligible and sent the local fans home with smiles on their faces.
Visiting Delavan-Darien, losers of three straight games, gave the home team all it could handle for four quarters and seemed destined to pull out an upset victory over the first-place Demons thanks to a go-ahead touchdown with 3:20 on the clock that made it 27-23.
But Burlington quarterback Brad Burling wasn’t going to let that happen. Not with so much at stake.
Fueled by a 29-yard Hunter Melby run and a clutch 4th-and-7 pass from Burling to senior tight end James Tully, the Demons had a first and goal at the Delavan 5-yard line with less than a minute on the clock.
A pivotal read by Burling on 3rd-and-goal at the 1 allowed the 6-foot-2 senior to score with 36 seconds remaining, and a Hail Mary that wasn’t answered led to a 30-27 victory on a night where a packed crowd braved chilly, windy temperatures in the low-40s.
With the win, Burlington improved to 4-3 overall and 4-1 in the Southern Lakes Conference. The Demons are tied atop the SLC with Wilmot, which beat Lake Geneva Badger (3-2 SLC) on a field goal as time expired Friday night.
Burlington qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2012. It was Burlington first-year coach Steve Tenhagen’s first game against his old team, Delavan-Darien, where he coached seven seasons.
“It’s a big win for us,” Burling said. “We clinched the playoffs and still have a chance at winning conference. That was the most exciting game I’ve ever been a part of. Not only high school, but any level I’ve ever played.”
Tenhagen said he is really happy for the team.
“Getting into the playoffs and getting our first home victory was great,” he said. “Delavan played a great football game. For us to battle and overcome and put ourselves in the position to win the game, it was great.”
Delavan stifled Burlington’s high-powered offense in the first half with blitzes and took a 14-6 lead into halftime. Burling was held to two completions.
However, the Demons marched right down the field to open the second half. A big pass play to Frankie Hozeska and Melby run set up a nifty Burling touchdown pass to Brian Dankle. Burling eluded heavy pressure, scrambled away and found Dankle in the end zone for a nine-yard play to cut the lead to 14-13.
Delavan answered right back with a Fabias Shipman scoring run to take a 20-13.
But Burlington kept chipping away. Dankle boomed a field goal, the Demon defense stepped up for a stop and Melby’s 20-yard touchdown run gave Burlington its first lead of the the game 23-20, with eight minutes to play.
Then, Collins showed why he’s the SLC reigning player of the year. He snuck up the middle, broke through a Kyle Jones tackle and was virtually untouched on what looked like the go-ahead score.
Delavan led, 27-23, which set the stage for Burling and the offense. Melby darted around the right end for a 25-yard run, but the Demons eventually faced a 4th-and-7 at the Delavan 30. They called timeout.
It was make or break time. A failed conversion would essentially end it.
However, Burling stood tall in the pocket, waited for senior tight end James Tully to slide across the middle and hit him in stride for a 25-yard gain down to the Delavan 5. It was a big-time throw that not a lot of high school quarterbacks can make.
“We had a different play called before the timeout,” Tenhagen said. “I saw the blitz, so we noticed the middle of the field was so vacant because they blitzed all night. Brad did a great job extending the play.”
Finally, facing a 3rd-and-goal from the Delavan 1 with 40 seconds left, the play was designed to go to Melby on run up the middle. However, Burling recognized a blitz before the snap, faked to Melby and ran it in for the game-winner.
“Brad had the option to hand it to Melby or keep it,” Tenhagen said. “They were blitzing, Brad saw it and pulled and kept it. That was Brad and Hunter. They handled it well. Especially for the first year running it. That’s big time right there.”
Delavan managed two first downs in the final 35 seconds, but Collins couldn’t complete a Hail Mary pass in which the ball came up five yards short of the end zone.
“Our defense played phenomenal and they came up with some big stops,” Tenhagen said of his defense. “We changed our coverage a little bit at halftime. They didn’t have the same fire as they did in the first half. They wore down a little bit.”
Burlington now travels to Wilmot for a first-place showdown.
Check out Thursday’s Burlington Standard Press for a full story including photos. Also, visit Standard Press Sports on Facebook for photos from Friday night.
Stats
Melby finished with 172 yards on 20 carries. Burling was 10-for-19 for 129 yards and touchdown, and he added 85 yards on the ground. Burlington rushed for 244 yards as a team.
Each team had two turnovers, and Delavan slightly out-gained the Demons, 378-373.
Collins added 107 yards on the ground.
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