Talented Breck senior crew sees season end on historic day for Providence

Mustangs senior football players put up big numbers on Saturday, but the Providence Academy Lions roared with larger numbers in a 55-20 loss for Breck.

"It was a hard loss today, but we really achieved a lot as a team and formed a lot as a family," Mustangs lineman Michael Burwell said.

He led the Mustangs defense with 14 tackles on the day, but the Mustangs defense overall struggled with the power running of Lions running back Marshall Klitzke. He had a record-setting day with 378 yards rushing and five touchdowns to propel the Lions to their first section title game.

"He was impossible to stop," Mustangs coach Brett Bergene said.

While Mustangs senior quarterback Austin Lommen did have a big game in his final prep performance, the Lions defense stymied the vaunted Mustang passing attack on several occasion. They forced the Lommen into two interceptions and stopped multiple Mustang drives.

Lommen threw 37-61 for 315 yards and a TD. Senior receivers Tyler Hudson and Kasey Robinson had big games with each getting more than 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards.

Trailing 34-7 at the half, the Mustangs capitalized on a pair of turnovers by the Lions early in the third quarter. The Mustangs cut the lead down to 41-20, but they never came closer.

"We really came out and starting pushing," Burwell said. "But when they got that score in the final minutes, it was hard to keep everybody going."

The Mustangs finished the season at 5-5, which had been riddled with injuries. They lost their first contest with the Lions 26-0 earlier in the season when Hudson had to step in at quarterback in place of Lommen due to a concussion. The Mustangs had reached the section championship game the year before when they fell to Holy Family.

"With all of the injuries, we weren't able to do what we needed to do," Bergene said.

The senior football players will go down as a memorable class. Lommen has been the latest in a long line of talented Mustang quarterbacks. Hudson and Robinson caught many of his passes oover the years. Burwell played effectively on both sides of the line for years. In addition, Loemmen, Hudson Burwell serve as captains for multiple sports at Breck.