By Eva Fahrnbruch

   The no. 1 Aurora Huskies proved their dominance over the past two weeks, with a 58-6 win over  Platteview on Sep. 16, and defeating St. Paul 54-13 on Sep. 22. The Huskies totaled 987 offense yards in the two games; 233 passing and 754 rushing.

   Senior quarterback Drew Knust was out with a shoulder injury during both games, so sophomore Booker Scheierman got his first start. He threw for 72 yards with a touchdown against Platteview, and 121 yards with another touchdown against St. Paul. 

  Against the Trojans, Aurora was led by senior Carlos Collazo with 235 rushing yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns. Junior Maddox Egger ran for 112 yards on 12 touches. Seniors Carsen Staehr and Wade Ohlson led the receiving for the Huskies, with 37 and 23 yards, respectively. 

   The Aurora defense started the game red-hot with a safety, followed by a Collazo 33-yard run for a touchdown to put the Huskies up 9-0. Platteview didn’t back down, throwing a 23-yard pass for a touchdown on their next possession. But, the Husky offense fired up, scoring two more touchdowns in the first quarter on a three-yard run and a two-point conversion from Collazo, and a four-yard run from Knust. 

  Senior Koby Nachtigal opened the second quarter with a 19-yard interception return, later followed by a Knust 3-yard run, making the score 38-6 at the half. 

   Collazo scored one more touchdown in the third quarter on a five-yard run before some underclassmen got a chance to play. Freshman Canon Allen had a one-yard run for a touchdown in the third quarter and freshman Ian Jensen had an eight-yard run in the fourth quarter for a touchdown to close out the game. 

   “I think our defense was the deciding factor in how that game played out. We kind of shut them down and our offense was able to feed off of that and score a lot of points,” Nachtigal said.

   Against the Wildcats, it was a similar story. Collazo had 237 rushing yards with five touchdowns, while Egger had 48 yards with a touchdown. Staehr had seven receptions for 117 yards with a touchdown and junior Tyson Dvorak had 39 receiving yards for a touchdown. 

   The first quarter was a momentum setter for the Huskies. Collazo scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion, while St. Paul had a field goal and a touchdown, giving Aurora a 21-10 lead after the first quarter. 

   Egger opened the second quarter with a 24-yard run for a touchdown, later followed by a Collazo touchdown to put the Huskies up 35-10 at the end of the half.

   In the third quarter, Collazo scored a touchdown on a four-yard run, and Staehr caught a 32-yard pass for six points. St. Paul scored another field goal to close out the quarter, making the score 48-13. In the fourth quarter, the only score was a Dvorak reception for a touchdown. 

   By Eva Fahrnbruch 

The battle of the top two in Class C-1 took place on Sep. 9 when the no. 1 Aurora Huskies took down the no. 2 Ashland-Greenwood Bluejays 33-14 on their home turf. This was Bluejays’ first regular-season home loss in five years. 

   Scoring three touchdowns, senior running back Carlos Collazo racked up 232 rushing yards with 33 attempts. Collazo also had two receptions for 31 yards. 

   Senior quarterback Drew Knust also had a vital role in the win, having five completed passes on 11 attempts for 66 yards with a touchdown pass. Senior Carsen Staehr also had three receptions for 35 yards with a touchdown. 

   ¨I think that we all were really confident going into the game and that was a big contributor to how we played. Our defense and our line were great, and Carlos played outstanding on offense,¨ Staehr said.

   Collazo opened the game with a 19-yard touchdown run very early in the first quarter. The Bluejays answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass, making the score 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Again, Collazo and the Huskies responded with a 2-yard touchdown run making the score 13-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

   Junior Treshaun Beed stepped up defensively in the second quarter, recovering an Ashland fumble for a 29-yard touchdown followed by a two-point conversion run by Collazo. The Husky defense was able to stop the Bluejays for the remainder of the second quarter, and Aurora finished the half with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Knust to Staehr to give the Huskies a 27-7 lead at the half.

   In the third quarter, Aurora did not score at all, but the Bluejay offense showed up. Ashland-Greenwood scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown to narrow the Husky advantage to only two scores.

   In the fourth quarter, the tables were turned. The only score was a two-yard run by Collazo, making the final score 33-14.

By Eva Fahrnbruch 

   The No. 1 Aurora Huskies defended their top spot, taking down No. 5 Boone Central 34-14 on Sep. 2, and senior Carlos Collazo was unstoppable. The running back rushed for a total of 256 yards with only 17 touches, scoring all five touchdowns for the Huskies. 

   “The game was a little sloppy but we got the job done and that’s what matters. The offensive line and wide receivers blocked great and we were able to get some explosive plays because of that. Our defense did a great job and played fast and physical,” Collazo said.

   The Huskies totaled 387 yards; 58 passing yards and 327 rushing. Senior quarterback Drew Knust had 52 passing yards, having six completed passes on ten attempts while also rushing for 59 yards. Senior Carsen Staehr had 34 receiving yards. 

   “We didn’t play as well as we wanted, but in the end we got the job done. We started off strong, and then lost a little focus, but we were able to get back on track in the second half,” Knust said.

   Aurora outscored the Cardinals 20-6 in the first quarter, giving them the momentum they needed for the rest of the game. Collazo opened the game in the  first quarter with a 79-yard touchdown run and a two-yard run for another six points. Senior kicker Alex Wheeler made one of two PATs, giving the Huskies a 13-0 lead midway through the first quarter. After a 93-yard kickoff return by Boone Central, Collazo had a 32 yard touchdown run to close out the first quarter. 

   The second quarter was a little slower. The only score from either team was a passing touchdown from Knust to Collazo making the Huskies lead 26-6 at the half. 

   In the third quarter, Collazo had yet another touchdown, going 80 yards to open the half, followed by a two-point conversion from senior Koby Nachtigal to make it 34-6. The Cardinals scored one more time during the third quarter, and neither team scored in the fourth. 

   by Graham Christenson

Softball season is in full swing for Aurora as the Huskies played four games in their first week of action.

   The Huskies had no problem beating Fillmore Central/Exeter Milligan on Aug 22. The bats were hot early for the Huskies as they sped to a 5-0 lead after only one inning. The Huskies didn’t stop adding on the runs, scoring two in the second inning. In the third inning, the Huskies tacked on three more runs forcing a run rule and ending the game.

   Sophomore Zoe Johnson got the start in the circle, allowing only two runs and picking up her first every varsity win as a pitcher. 

   The Huskies’ first action at home came at the tournament hosted on Aug 19. Aurora started the day hosting Gering. Aurora got on the board early thanks to an RBI double by senior Eva Fahrnbruch. Gering responded quickly with two runs of their own. The third inning was huge for Gering where they scored four runs. Aurora added one more in the fifth but it wasn’t enough as they fell to Gering 6-2.

   Shortly after, the Huskies found themselves in a thriller against Cozad. The game started off 2-0 Aurora thanks to RBI singles by sophomores Adi Fahrnbruch and Zoe Johnson. However, Cozad struck back in the next inning scoring three runs taking the lead 3-2. Cozad had another big inning in the fourth, adding four more runs to their total while Aurora scored just one. 

   In the fifth inning, junior Kaelin Sparr sent a ball deep and over the fence to cut the Cozad lead to just two. Once again, Cozad promptly responded scoring two in the sixth. The Huskies did everything in their power to claw their way back in to the game in the final inning. Adi Fahrnbruch hit a 2 RBI double making the score 9-7 with no outs. Sophomore Grace Howland added an RBI of her own and made the score 9-8 with two outs. The Aurora rally came up just short as Cozad got the third out and hung on to defeat the Huskies 9-8.

   The Huskies had a strong showing in their first game of the season against Lexington, thanks to a strong performance on the mound by Eva Fahrnbruch. Allowing only one run and three hits, Eva threw nine strikeouts as the Huskies won their first game of the season 7-1 against Lexington.

   “I think that it was a great first game for us to have, a lot of our underclassmen who haven’t had a lot of varsity time got to experience that and get comfortable there. We had a slow start but we finally found our groove at the end of the game, and I’m super proud of how everyone stepped up,” Eva said.

Sophomore Zoe Johnson strides out to throw a strike against Fillmore Central/ Exeter Milligan.

by Eva Fahrnbruch

   After 16 years, a new face is leading the Aurora Husky volleyball team this season. After head coach Lois Hixson decided to step down at the end of last season, Andrew Murillo was hired to take on the role. He has a new perspective and a fresh set of eyes on each of the players.

   “I feel confident in our core group of girls. We have the talent and drive to succeed this season. However, as with any varsity sport, our goal will be to remain focused on getting better one day at a time,” Coach Murillo noted.

   The Huntington Beach Calif. native said the transition has come fairly easy thanks to the support he has received from the players and community. 

   “Like any transition in career and in community, there is always a learning curve.  Thankfully, there has been great support from the community and volleyball families. More importantly, the seniors are a great group of leaders that I can count on to help lead our program. They have known each other for most of their lives, so their chemistry is there. Now that the season is underway, we are learning to build on that chemistry together with a new coach and some underclassmen,” he said.

   The Lady Huskies got their first action at home with a pre-season jamboree against St. Paul and Columbus Scotus. They split each match, going 2-2 on the day. 

   Against the Wildcats, senior Delaney Nachtigal led the way with seven kills, and senior Lexi Jones added six. Senior libero Kirsten Jensen recorded 13 digs, while senior setter Kasey Schuster contributed 15 assists. 

   “Although we didn’t play to the best of our ability, we still did a great job of competing. Playing at home for the opening jamboree carries a bit of weight when the community comes to watch and get a preview for the upcoming season. On top of that, we are still testing small lineup changes to look at different options down the road. Despite this, we still competed and used each set as a learning opportunity moving forward,” Coach Murillo said of the jamboree. 

   This season, Aurora moves from Class B to Class C-1. Coach Murillo said that although it will pose its own challenges, he believes that it will be a fresh start for his players. The Huskies will take a break from playing some of their Class B rivals, providing a new look and approach to each match.