It was the final home game for Dubois head coach David Trembly, but the Hollywood finish eluded the Rams with a 67-46 loss to a talented Burlington Huskies squad. The Huskies are the North 6-man champions and are unbeaten against Wyoming teams. They lost their season opener to Custer, Montana but have rolled since then.
The 21-point win over the Rams was the closest game so far for Burlington.
Burlington takes the home field in the opening and second rounds courtesy of their 6-0 unbeaten record in the North Conference. They will host the fourth-seeded from the South, Farson Eden on Friday at 2 p.m.
Dubois is on the road at Kaycee on Friday, also with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
If you’re a fan of wide-open football, Dubois was the place to be Saturday afternoon. The usual high-speed game that 6-man offers came with a little extra dressing as both teams made a few impromptu plays to keep drives alive.
Add some vicious open field tackling, and a couple of spectacular pass defense plays by Noah Hawkins for the Rams, and you have a very entertaining afternoon of football.
Burlington took an early lead, but the Rams came back through the air with Siler Hess hitting Hayden Howard for a 24-yard scoring play.
The physical differences between the teams was striking, with the Huskies larger at almost every position.
That size advantage made it difficult for the usually effective Dubois kicking game to get untracked. Kicking extra points proved to be a problem for freshman Cooper Kintzler throughout the game. The Huskies were all over the ball before holder Wyatt Trembly was able to set it on several plays.
Burlington took a 15-6 lead with just 50 seconds on the first-period clock. The Rams scored quickly Trembly on a short series when Trembly broke open on a 51-yard run 36 seconds later.
The second period tested all the lights in the old Rams’ scoreboard.
The Huskies tacked on 30 points in the second and the Rams scored 20.
Trembly scored on a 21-yard run, but the Huskies more than doubled the score to 37-18 late in the half.
Kintzler, blessed with blazing speed, kept the Rams close taking the ensuing kickoff 71 yards for a quick touchdown. Kintzler took the ball in the middle of the field at the nine-yard line, juked right, then turned on the jets down the south sideline for the score.
Jonah Oard added a 17-yard run with Kintzler adding the two-point conversion kick and the Rams were back in the game, trailing 37-32 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Huskies ended the hoped for rally, scoring on a 41-yard pass to bump their halftime advantage to 45-32.
In a low-scoring third period, Dubois scored first, closing to 45-40 on a 17-yard pass from Trembly to Howard and a Kintzler kick, but that was as close it would get.
The Huskies added 16 points in the final period for a comfortable 21-point win.
The game ended with coach Trembly receiving handshakes and greetings from the entire Burlington team, fans from both schools and the five officials from the Riverton Officials Association who worked the game.
DUBOIS 12 20 8 6 – 46
BURLINGTON 15 30 6 16 – 67
First Quarter
BUR – Joe Bassett 36-pass from Jordan Michaels (Noah McMackin pass from Rykael Andrew) 6:18
DUB – Hayden Howard 24-pass from Siler Hess (kick failed) 3:58
BUR – Hunter Aagard 19-pass from Andrew (Brikton Wardell kick) :50
DUB – Wyatt Trembly 51-run (kick failed):14
Second Quarter
BUR -Weston Gotfriedson 27-pass from Andrew (Wardell kick) 6:46
BUR – Mickey Maroni 1-run (kick failed) 5:32
DUB – Trembly 21-run (kick failed) 2:47
BUR – Jordan Casey 51-pass from Michaels (Wardell kick) 2:24
DUB – Cooper Kintzler 71-kickoff return (kick failed) 2:17
DUB – Jonah Oard 17-run (Kintzler kick) 1:46
BUR – Casey 41-pass from Michaels (Wardell kick):05
Third Quarter
DUB – Howard 17-pass from Trembly (Kintzler kick) 4:33
BUR – Bassett 12-run (kick failed) 2:40
Fourth Quarter
BUR – Aagard 18-pass from Michaels (Wardell kick) 5:16
BUR – Michales 35-run (Wardell kick) 3:57
DUB – Trembly 19-run (kick failed) 3:17