Salvaging the season

BURLINGTON – Aaron Papich came into his first season as the head coach of the Burlington football team expecting to compete for a playoff spot in the 1A West.

What he got was something entirely different.

A lack of numbers forced Papich and the Huskies to forfeit seven of their eight games this year and they nearly had to cancel their season. But the fortitude and dedication shown by the players has kept the season alive.

Numbers were low as the Huskies began fall practice in August – the first red flag. Still, Papich wasn't discouraged. In high school football, it's common to see a few kids join the team late – often coming in during the first or second week of practice.

But as the Huskies began to prepare for their first game of the season – Burlington's home-opener against Lusk – they still only had 11 players – the second red flag.

Papich decided to still play the game, the result being a 52-0 blowout at the hands of the Tigers.

During the game, a Burlington player had to come off of the field due to injury. With no reserve players to turn to, the Huskies had to play with only 10 – the final red flag.

As the second week of the regular season started, the decision was made to cancel the game against Big Horn County rival Riverside. At that point, it was looking like they'd be forfeiting against Wyoming Indian as well.

Soon afterward, the question arose if Burlington should nix the entire season.

"It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do as a coach. It was a bad feeling to know that we might have to cancel the season and we knew the kids wanted to play. Unfortunately you have to start with 11 players – we just couldn't guarantee that," Papich said. "The thing was we still had kids showing up. So we knew we had to make a decision whether to tell them that the season is cancelled and to come out next year or maybe there was another way."

After exploring various options, Papich and his staff found a way to make things work.

Burlington made the decision to forfeit the rest of its games. But instead of scrapping the entire season, the Huskies are spending 2015 learning a new type of football – 6-Man.

"I had mixed emotions after that," said senior Hunter Allen who played 6-Man while attending middle school in Meeteetse. His past experiences made him excited to get back to the different style of football, but missing out on the 11-Man season was a hard pill to swallow.

"It was still hard having to forfeit the 11-Man season. That's what we live for, basically," he said.

The move made sense with Burlington moving down to 6-Man football next season, but it didn't make things any easier.

It was a different game than the Huskies were used to playing. Not only did they have to learn new formations, but a new set of rules as well as the different nuances of the game.

It wasn't pretty at first, but Papich said the team is starting to find its way.

"Trent Aagard and Ryan Nelson, our assistant coaches – those guys have been doing a lot of research on the game and so I've really leaned on them," said the first-year coach. "They've made it really for the kids to learn and I've got to tell you that we're doing pretty good right now because of those two guys.

"As a collective whole, it's become easier and easier each week."

Wanting to give his team something to practice for, Papich began to seek out opponents for exhibition games this season. It wasn't easy in the beginning, but after numerous phone calls with various schools he managed to schedule six games this season.

"Once we got some games everyone was excited. The kids were excited and the coaches were excited because we had something to give the kids to keep coming to practice for," said Papich. "That's a tough thing to ask the kids to come to two months of practice with no games, could you imagine?"

The Huskies have played four games so far and now only two remain. Today, they'll host Billings Christian School from Montana at 4 p.m. and Saturday, they'll travel to Kaycee for another exhibition at 11 a.m.

The Huskies may not be making a push for the playoffs as Papich expected, but they've given him an experience he'll never forget in his first year at the helm.

"It's hard not to be in a position to be able to play in the playoffs because we're not eligible. But knowing that next year we'll have that possibility is a good feeling," said Papich. "I don't want to be done right now, I really don't. But the season is going to come to an end and I think everyone is going to have a good feeling knowing we gave one hundred percent of what we were capable of giving."