On a cold night with a blistering northwest wind howling down the field, both Blue Valley Northwest and Olathe North started Friday’s sectional round slow, unable to produce much offensively. That is until the top seeded Huskies got a spark in an unlikely fashion, a play that would spark a 29-point victory as BVNW advanced past the Eagles convincingly 56-27.
“I kind of had an idea [North] might do what they did, but they showed some different things,” head coach Clint Rider said of the sluggish start. “They came out and went zero on us and we had a tough time getting the running game going. The defense held up well but we were worried about going into the wind the first quarter. So, that play kickstarted momentum for the entire first half.”
‘That play’ came with under 4:00 remaining in the opening quarter. Olathe North, looking at a fourth and three inside its own 45-yard line, watched BVNW senior Gavin Biancalana zoom past blockers and deflect the Eagles punt. Fellow senior Drew Kaufman then collected the bouncing ball and returned it all the way inside the 5-yard line, where junior tailback Grant Stubblefield would punch in the first of several scores and the Huskies never looked back.
“Definitely the blocked punt and great return by Drew Kaufman,” senior quarterback Mikey Pauley said, joining his head coach in praising the special teams play for igniting the victory. “That set us up and got us out of our own end of the field. It got our sideline going and from there we figured out what to do. That was huge.”
What ensued was an onslaught of points for the home team, increasing their playoff total to 186 points scored and stunning an Olathe North program built on decades of dominance.
Stubblefield took the next possession and last of the first quarter 91-yards up the gut to make it 14-0 and after three more first half possessions, Mikey Pauley waltzed in for his third rushing touchdown of the half to make it 35-0 at the break.
“Defensively we weren’t always on our assignments,” Olathe North head coach Chris McCartney stated afterwards. “They’re already pretty physical when they run, but they had us on our heels and kept applying pressure. That’s what good teams do.”
“They present a lot of challenges up front and how their linebackers flow to the ball extremely well,” Rider added, commending the Eagles fight. “Eventually we were able to establish the line of scrimmage and, when we got momentum, it kept their offense off the field on a cold night. I think that was huge. Our lines do not get enough credit.”
Even after Olathe North rallied to open the second half with its first scoring drive of the night, finding senior receiver BJ Shields to make it 35-7, the Huskies held strong and locked down on defense.
“It was huge for them to go out and get stops that forced punts,” Pauley said, applauding his defense. “Playing tough through the whole game, even after half when they came out and scored. They kept playing hard and our offense worked off of them.”
“We shut the outside run down more than anything,” senior lineman Gabe Peterson added. “Once we did that everything fell into place.”
The loss means Olathe North (8-3) exits before reaching the sub-state round for the first time since 2017, when a group of resilient seniors weren’t yet walking the halls as Eagles.
“These seniors are awesome,” a somber McCartney said of a veteran group that’s won 35 games over four years. “They’ve bought in ever since day one and they’ve been good since they were freshmen. Really proud of them. Special people and a special bunch of kids.”
That same year, 2017, was also year one for Rider as head coach at Blue Valley Northwest. And after winning just four games over his first three seasons, he now has the Huskies at a point in the postseason the school hasn’t witnessed since 1999.
“It feels longer than most people feel like it is,” chuckled Rider when asked about his program’s turnaround. “It was pretty slow feeling for me.”
“These seniors were eighth graders my first year here and we had to fight to keep them together. But they stuck it out and started to believe in each other. What they’ve established has trickled down to the young guys and we’re seeing that play out over the course of this season.”
Standing 10-1 atop the east bracket, BVNW now settles in for a sub-state date with EKL rival Blue Valley West, a team they defeated 21-0 to finish the regular season. Keeping the locker room focused on the job at hand is something that the elated Huskies leaders are happy to be in a position to do.
“After a win like this it’s going to be hard but that’s our job,” Peterson stated. “We’ve got two more games so we’ve got to keep our heads down and stay humble.”
“We’re excited for tomorrow morning,” finished Pauley. “This might be the most excited we’ve ever been to go watch film at 8 o’clock in the morning. I’m just so thankful to play with all these guys. It’s been truly special.”
