The 11th-seeded Blair High School football team thrashed one-loss, Class B No. 3 Omaha Skutt during the first quarter of the state quarterfinals.
The Bears stole the ball Friday night, took it and threw it over the heads of the shellshocked Skyhawks to the tune of a 28-6 lead.
“Defense was humming. We were creating turnovers and our offense couldn't be stopped,” BHS quarterback Bode Soukup said. “It just felt like we were on top of the world at that moment and, obviously, things didn't end up going our way.”
Twelve seconds. It's how much time was left in the game when Skutt took its first lead.
Morgan Finkenbinder's season-saving, 33-yard field goal pushed the Skyhawks past the underdogs, 30-28.
“That's football,” Soukup said. “Things are going to happen like that.”
The loss ended the Bears' season at 6-5 overall. Coach Bryan Soukup's team earned its first playoff win in five years on Oct. 27 and was just seconds away from claiming its first state semifinals berth since 2010.
“We gave ourselves a chance there, all the way through,” the coach explained. “I'm just proud of the way the kids played.”
“It's an honor to be playing with these people,” senior lineman Triston Clausen said.
Starting fast and holding on
Senior kickoff specialist Riley Wolff started Friday's game at Skutt with a short kick near the home sideline. Coach Soukup said he wanted Blair to avoid giving up a long return, but he had ulterior motives for the special teams move, too.
“With the holes they presented, we thought we could even get one,” he explained. “It just worked out.”
The Skyhawks let Wolff's kick bounce on the turf and Bears sophomore Blaise Baughman dove in and latched onto it, giving the road team its first break.
During the ensuing possession — on fourth down — Bode Soukup connected with senior Ethan Baessler for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Less than 2 minutes and a Skutt fumble later, the duo played pass-and-catch again for a 20-yard score and a 14-0 lead.
“We didn't think they had an answer for Ethan,” coach Soukup said.
The Skyhawks did, however, answer with a 78-yard touchdown run, but it couldn't derail BHS' momentum. With 4:26 still left in the opening quarter, junior Brock Templar broke a 20-yard run for the Bears' third score.
“We jumped on them,” coach Soukup said. “Couldn't have had a better start.”
It wasn't over either as the coach's son threw a 53-yard TD pass to Ben Holcomb on the road squad's next possession. Baughman's fourth extra-point kick of the first quarter made the score 28-6 in Blair's favor.
“It was all ups,” Bode Soukup said. “Everything was going our way. It seemed like we couldn't even do anything bad.”
Something unfortunate did happen, though, as Baessler was forced from the game by injury. The track and field champion's absence was felt, too, as the Skywalks won the second quarter 14-0. Danny Johnson's 32-yard touchdown catch with 2:32 left in the half pulled the third-seeded team in Class B within 28-20.
After the halftime break, Skutt cut into the deficit further. It scored its fourth touchdown of the game with 7:15 left in the third quarter, but elected to take an extra-point kick rather than go for the tie.
The decision nearly cost coach Matt Turman's Skyhawks, while BHS was emboldened by remaining ahead.
“Especially in the third quarter, we kept saying, 'Dig in and fight,'” Bears lineman Braden McGill said. “And everyone started to believe we could do it.”
Blair kept its 28-27 lead for 19 minutes and 3 seconds of game time before Finkenbinder's last-chance kick. A key Holcomb tackle forced a turnover on downs during the third quarter before Thomas Chikos intercepted a fourth-quarter Skutt pass, preserving the one-point advantage.
BHS' Crayton Macholan recovered a Skyhawk fumble with 5:38 left in the game as well, but coach Turman's team ultimately escaped with a two-point, come-from-behind victory. The home squad survived and advanced, while the Bears soaked in their last night of the season together.
“I'm going to look back and just remember that we played the hardest we could,” Clausen said. “Everyone did.”
Proving something
Blair senior Brady Brown had tears in his eyes as the game went final.
He was forced to watch the entire game from the sidelines after breaking a collarbone during the Bears' first-round playoff win against Plattsmouth.
“We played a great game against a good team,” Brown said, assessing his team's season-ending loss.
Many Bears took the heartbreaking defeat hard.
“Hate to have the season come to an end because this has been such an amazing group to coach,” coach Soukup said after meeting with his team on the field one last time. “Such a fun group to be around every day.”
It, too, was a group that McGill said proved something with its 1-1 postseason run.
“We're a better team than people give us credit for,” he said after the nail-biter against state-championship favorite. “I think we were, kind of, doubted a lot all year and I think we proved a lot of people wrong tonight.”
No. 3 OMAHA SKUTT 30, No. 11 BLAIR 28
BHS (6-5) 28 0 0 0 — 28
SKUTT (10-1) 6 14 7 3 — 30
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
B: Ethan Baessler 25-yard pass from Bode Soukup, Blaise Baughman PAT
B: Baessler 20-yard pass from Soukup, Baughman PAT
OS: Colin Pike 78-yard run, 2-point conversion failed
B: Brock Templar 20-yard run, Baughman PAT
B: Ben Holcomb 53-yard pass from Soukup, Baughman PAT
Second Quarter
OS: Anthony Heithoff 68-yard pass from Bennett Turman, Morgan Finkenbinder PAT
OS: Danny Johnson 32-yard pass from Turman, Finkenbinder PAT
Third Quarter
OS: Turman 2-yard run, Finkenbinder PAT
Fourth Quarter
OS: Finkenbinder 33-yard field goal
