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Emmett Huskies vs. Gooding Senators

Saturday, Nov. 21 @ 4:00 p.m. MT, Holt Arena

Broadcast Commentators: Matt Harris, Sven Alskog, Will Nordquist

Click HERE to watch this game LIVE.

For pretty much anyone who has faced the Huskies this year, there’s been one theme: domination. Emmett has absolutely CRUSHED their competition this season and it hasn’t even been close really. The Huskies are a perfect 10-0 on the year and are looking to win their first state football championship in school history… in fact, this is their first trip to the Milk Bowl in program history.

They’ve been led all year by their three-headed trio of Sage Wilkerson, Mason Farnsworth, and Luc Overton. Here’s how their overall season stats shape up:

-QB Saige Wilkerson: 1,627 pass yards, 21 TD, 3 INT with 105 rush yards and 5 TD

- RB Mason Farnsworth: 1,416 rush yards, 22 TD

-WR Luc Overton: 35 receptions, 798 yards, 12 TD

The Huskies are big and fast on both the offensive and defensive lines and have caused all sorts of matchup problems this year for opposing teams. They are averaging 8.6 yards per rush and in the passing game, they are averaging 12.1 yards per play. Very impressive numbers to say the least. 

Schedule wise, it’s really been a dominating season for the Huskies, and their only close game of the year came against Middleton in Week 2, a 28-26 win at home.

The rest of those games have been blowouts from anywhere between 17-63 points overall, including domination of Homedale, Fruitland, Shelley, and Sugar-Salem. Those were all very good teams, but Emmett has simply mowed them down and cast them aside.

It’s been a year to remember for fourth year head coach Mike Schroeder and his Emmett Huskies. Here’s a look at how well Emmett has played this season compared to last season when they were a state semifinalist:

-In 2014, Emmett averaged 34.3 ppg on offense and gave up 15.1 ppg on defense for a difference of 19.2 ppg total.

-In 2015, Emmett is averaging 51.3 ppg on offense while giving up 14.2 ppg on defense for a difference of 37.1 ppg overall.

That is just an unreal improvement over last season – about 18 points per game overall. They were good last year – they are just that much better this year.

Last week, the Huskies took down the Sugar-Salem Diggers 42-14 at home. It was another solid performance all around:

-QB Saige Wilkerson: 5-of-5 pass, 208 yds, 2 TD

-RB Mason Farnsworth: 8 rush, 122 yds, 2 TD

-RB Kayden Payne: 3 rush, 20 yds, 1 TD

-WR Luc Overton: 2 rec, 123 yds, 1 TD/100-yd interception return for TD

-WR Conner Falk: 4 rec, 85 yds

Now, just a note – this is Emmett’s first game away from home in more than a month. The last time they played on the road was Oct. 16 at Fruitland, a 42-14 win for the Huskies. We shall see how the distance affects them, if at all, at Holt Arena on Saturday.

As for their opponent, the Gooding Senators, they are trying to make a little history of their own. Of course Gooding is familiar with playing in the Dome –they’ve played in it the past two seasons (both matchups being against Shelley). They fell in the state semifinals here two years ago and again in an epic thriller in the state quarterfinals last season.

We shall see how the familiarity with Holt Arena will work in the favor of Gooding as Emmett has never played in here before. And we shall see if there the shorter driving distance will help Gooding’s cause when it comes to the crowd.

When it comes to the field, Gooding brings an exciting, electric offensive attack here to the Milk Bowl... and that attack is led by the gunslinging Wyatt Williams. This season, Williams has really improved his game and is a true dual-threat signal caller. His stats show it:

- QB Wyatt Williams: 2,827 pass yds, 38 TD’s, 7 INT with 1,273 rush yds and 11 TD.

Williams is joined by running back Mike Needham, who has 1,402 rush yds and 11 TD’s this season and receivers Bryson Comstock (1,239 rec yds, 18 TD), Jed Pierson (520 rec yds, 7 TD) and Shawn Pamplona (363 rec yds, 6 TD).

They are certainly a potent offense which will potentially give Emmett a challenge on Saturday. The Huskies have only given up five passing touchdowns all season – Wyatt Williams has had several games this season where he has scored six touchdowns by himself. This ought to be a fun matchup to watch.

The Senators, of course, are led by head coach Cameron Andersen, now in his sixth season. Gooding opened up the year with a 54-13 dismantling of New Plymouth, which was followed by wins at Nampa Christian and Wendell.

Then the Skyview game came around and Gooding received a pretty big wake up call at the hands of the Hawks as they were annihilated 47-6. Then, Gooding played old nemesis Shelley and fell 42-41 at home.

Since that time, however, the Senators have not lost, including big wins vs. Kimberly, Filer, Buhl, and Weiser. Gooding edged South Fremont 34-33 in the state quarterfinals before knocking off Homedale 43-34 last week.

While their numbers aren’t as eye-popping as Emmett’s are, that’s certainly not to say that they haven’t been dominant in their own right. Here’s a scoring comparison from last season to this year:

- In 2014, Gooding averaged 54.2 ppg on offense and gave up 14.4 ppg on defense for a difference of 39.8 ppg.

- In 2015, Gooding is averaging 43.6 ppg on offense while giving up 20.5 ppg on defense for a difference of 23.1 ppg.

Not the crazy numbers that Emmett is touting, but very solid numbers nonetheless.

Last week for the Senators, they took down the second seed from District 3, the Homedale Trojans. It was another good game overall for the Senators, who fell behind by two touchdowns early on before rallying for the win:

- QB Wyatt Williams: 4 pass TD, 2 rush TD

- WR Bryson Comstock: 2 rec TD

- WR Jed Pierson: 1 rec TD

- WR Shawn Pamplona: 1 rec TD

This year’s 3A ‘Milk Bowl’ state championship should be a fun one to watch. Potentially lots of offense, hard hitting defense, and great way to cap the 2015 season. Come pack Holt Arena with us (and get there early to take in the 1AD1 State Championship too). But if you can’t be there for whatever reason, join us online on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop online on IdahoSports.com for the live broadcast.