Six of Dex Larsen's Friday afternoon totes ended in the end zone Friday at Omaha Gross as the Blair football team blasted the hometown Cougars 54-14.
The senior back's touchdown tally broke his own school record. He'd previously shared the single-game rushing TD mark — five — with Dalton Lewis, Jake Schany and Ryan Randall.
“(Dex) deserves it,” Bears coach Bryan Soukup said, complimenting both the senior and his offensive line. “I was hoping to get an opportunity to feed him the ball a little bit.”
The chance arrived during Blair's 27-point second quarter. Trailing 7-6 despite Larsen's 36-yard first-quarter touchdown run, the senior added three more to push BHS ahead 26-7. The runs covered 1, 47 and 3 yards.
Quarterback Morgan Rump closed the first half with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nolan Osterhaus, but Larsen added his fifth and sixth touchdowns during the third as the Bears pulled away.
“We played solid in all three phases of the game pretty much the whole time,” Soukup said.
Sophomore Kaden Sears added a 49-yard touchdown run during the fourth quarter as Blair tallied its highest point total of the 4-3 start to their season.
Soukup said the Bears have played balanced offensive football this fall with Rump leading the passing game and Larsen, Livai Opetaia and Dane Larsen splitting carries. During that time, the coach's senior back hasn't complained a bit about sharing the load even after back-to-back 1,300-yard seasons as a sophomore and junior.
“He's just one of those guys that just goes about his business and wants to see the team win,” Soukup said. “So, it was nice to feed him tonight.”
Larsen finished the Bears' fourth win of 2020 with more than 20 carries and 225 yards. BHS next plays Ralston on Friday at Krantz Field. The Rams are 3-3 after a 42-7 loss to Omaha Skutt.
