BRUNING, Neb. - Leading by just four at the intermission, #20 Burwell (5-4) seized control of the contest with a nearly flawless third quarter, and the Longhorns sprung a minor seeded upset with a 49-30 victory over #13 Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (6-3), one of last year's state semifinalists, in the first round of the 2025 Nebraska D2 football state tournament on Thursday afternoon. 

These two schools faced off for the 2015 D1 state championship at Memorial Stadium with BDS prevailing 44-30. Thursday, almost exactly ten years later, they matched up for the first time since that game. And though this was a first round contest rather than a final round showdown, ultimately the Longhorns were able to earn their revenge. 

Both teams got off to blistering starts in one of the first games of the 2025 high school football postseason. Wyatt Kempf dashed 37 yards up the right sideline for a score on BDS' first possession of the contest, and that kickstarted a stretch of six straight scoring drives between the two teams combined: Burwell quarterback Binyam Sikes ran for two scores and BDS quarterback Levi Kamler ran for one and passed to Aiden Domeier for another one, and Burwell held a slim 20-18 lead midway through the second quarter. 

The Eagles seemed to get their first big break when a snap sailed over Sikes' head just a few plays into the Longhorns' next drive, giving BDS the ball inside the ten. Kempf took it into the end zone shortly thereafter, giving BDS their second lead of the game, 24-20. But just like their first lead, this one didn't last long: Sikes and top tailback Drew Dawe engineered a response drive in less than two minutes, and the Longhorns snared a 28-24 lead going into the halftime break. 

After an evenly matched first half, the third quarter was where the visitors took over for good. BDS had the ball to start the half but went three and out - Burwell took over and scored with a rushing touchdown from Dawe. BDS took possession but went three and out again - Burwell took over and scored on a pass from Sikes to Brody Jensen. On the next BDS possession, Dawe undercut a Kamler deep shot for his team's first takeaway of the night - Burwell took over and Sikes plunged in from one yard out at the start of the fourth quarter. 

Burwell recorded more touchdowns than BDS did first downs in the third quarter to extend the lead to as large as 49-24. Kempf scored one more time to complete his personal hat trick in his first postseason game as the BDS lead back, but it was not enough. Burwell outscored BDS 21-6 after halftime to finish off the seeded upset and earn a spot in the second round of the postseason next Friday on Halloween. In a rematch from the regular season, they will face #4 St. Mary's, which dominated #29 Creighton 60-16. 

#20 Burwell (5-4) 49:  14 | 14 | 14 | 7

#13 BDS (6-3).      30:  12 | 12 | 0 | 6