Despite two Blaise Baughman touchdowns getting Blair out to a 14-0 lead early in Friday's contest at No. 8 Elkhorn, the Bears fell 28-21 on the road after a 28-7 run by the Antlers.
The game was one where the opening coin toss played a significant impact, with the home side deferring to the second half and taking advantage of it.
First, though, Baughman hauled in a 42-yard receiving touchdown — his second score of the game — on a seam route out of the backfield. Quarterback Cooper Sorensen found the junior on the score, giving Blair a 14-0 lead with roughly 4 minutes left in the first half.
Baughman tallied 21 carries for 146 yards and a rushing touchdown, as well as the aforementioned receiving touchdown, in a game where he received a steady diet of carries due to star running back Brock Templar sidelined with an injury.
“He's a great player, and it would have been nice having him and (Templar) in the game,” head coach Bryan Soukup said. “We always knew (Baughman) was going to be that type of player, and I told him before the game, 'Here's your chance to be that dude.' He did a great job and had a hell of a game.”
Elkhorn fit in a touchdown right before the half and doubled up with another after receiving the kickoff to start the third quarter. With the score knotted at 14, the Bears responded with a drive straight down the field deep into Antlers' territory. The drive was fruitless, though, as Blair turned the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line.
“We answered very well, drove down there and just weren't able to punch one in there,” Soukup said.
Starting at their own 1-yard line, the Antlers gradually worked away from their end zone before a 66-yard touchdown gave them their first lead toward the end of the third quarter. After six minutes of scoreless football, Elkhorn scored on the ground once more to take a 28-14 lead with just less than 8 minutes left in the game.
But Blair wasn't done yet, as it took less than 2 minutes for Sorensen to find Hayden Daggett on a 26-yard touchdown pass into the corner of the end zone. Down 28-21, the defense managed a stop and gave the ball back to the offense, which needed to drive the length of the field in just 56 seconds.
Controversy struck as the Bears' offense approached midfield. After a play Blair perceived as a first down, which should have stopped the game clock by rule, the clock kept running. A mishap on the snap and spike then led to a flag on the offense, as the snap was bobbled and dropped before the ball was spiked, which is an illegal play.
From there, the Bears needed to set up and run another play, which would be the game's last. A whistle rang out just as Sorensen received the snap, but the play was not ruled dead and a final pass fell incomplete to seal the loss.
“Right as we snapped the ball, the official blew his whistle, so we thought we might get an inadvertent whistle,” Soukup said. “They didn't see it that way and that's the way it goes. That's what we were arguing for, and you could see the reaction of our quarterback. That's what we were trying to argue for so we could get one more play. I felt he blew the whistle when our quarterback had the ball in his hands, and if he felt that we snapped the ball too early then he probably should've blown it dead and reset it right there.”
The loss marked the third time this season the Bears have fallen short by one score, and Soukup said that a record of 2-6 doesn't reflect the quality of his team.
Still showing up and playing a closely-contested game without one of the best players in Class B in Templar is a testament to the kids, Soukup said, noting that his team fought hard and did everything asked of them.
“Just keep playing hard and see what happens,” Soukup said, looking ahead to this week's regular season finale against Omaha Skutt, which just ended Bennington's 46-game win streak this past Friday. “We've been a very competitive football team against some of the top teams in Class B, and maybe we'll get some breaks here. I told these kids that I'm most proud of them for the way they continue to show up each week and give it everything they've got. You can't ask any more as a coach if your kids keep showing up and playing hard.”
No. 8 ELKHORN 28, BLAIR 21
BHS (2-5) 7 7 0 7 — 21
EHS (4-4) 0 7 14 7 — 28
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
B: Blaise Baughman 3-yard run, Baughman PAT
B: Baughman 42-yard pass from Cooper Sorensen, Baughman PAT
Second Quarter
E: Kayd Matthews 10-yard run, Cameron Lambirth PAT
Third Quarter
E: Matthews 12-yard run, Lambirth PAT
E: Elliot Beister 66-yard run, Lambirth PAT
Fourth Quarter
B: Hayden Daggett 26-yard pass from Sorensen, Baughman PAT
