The 2023 West Holt Huskies football season got off to a bang on Friday, August 25 when the Huskies took down Valentine at home by a score of 18-0.
The Huskies entered the game on a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season and were looking to break the streak and begin their season right.
The Huskies began the game off to a slow start offensively, relying on their defense to hold Valentine and keep them tied heading into the second quarter at 0-0.
The second quarter is where the Huskies were finally able to break the ice and find the end zone, thanks to a successful designed Quarterback run by Lincoln Konrad at the one-yard line. After a failed two-point conversion, the score stood at 6-0.
Following the score, the Huskies defense stepped up to force the turnover and give West Holt the ball back in prime field position. The Huskies would utilize their field position and find the end zone yet again, this time thanks to a four-yard pass from the hands of Konrad to Caleb Davis, who had to fight off a defender in mid-air to complete the catch and use great field awareness to stretch the ball across his body to break the plain and earn a touchdown for the Huskies.
With the two-point conversion unsuccessful yet again, the Huskies would head into halftime with a 12-0 lead against the Badgers.
The third quarter continued the pattern of defensive battles, with neither team gaining much of an edge offensively. Finally, the Huskies were able to put together a drive which ended on a beautiful catch from Husky Wide Receiver Mason Crumrine in the end zone on a 21-yard pass by Konrad to put the game on ice. The Huskies would take an 18-0 lead and would run out the clock in the fourth quarter to earn themselves a three-score victory.
The Huskies would have a total of 267 yards in the contest, compared to Valentine’s 96. The Huskies were able to keep the Badgers defense guessing, splitting their total yards almost directly in half between rushing and passing, with 134 yards coming through the air and 133 coming on the ground.
The defense for the Huskies was a force to be reckoned with all game long, holding the Valentine offense to just 1 third-down completion all game, forcing two interceptions and not allowing the Badgers to get inside the red-zone all game.
Konrad led the way for the Huskies offense with 134 yards of total offense. Ian Laetsch led the ground game with 18 rushing attempts for 49 yards and Crumrine led the receivers with 3 catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.