The Blair High School football team held Class B No. 1 Bennington to a season-low 28 points Friday night, but it was far from enough to pull the upset.
The top-ranked Badgers left Krantz Field 5-0 after their 28-0 victory, while the Bears fell to 1-4. Coach Bryan Soukup's squad beat 0-5 Elkhorn Mount Michael on Sept. 3, but is 0-4 against unbeaten Plattsmouth, Beatrice, Elkhorn and Bennington.
To start Friday's game, BHS' defense earned a 3-and-out on the Badgers' first possession. The visiting team earned 3 yards on first down before defensive backs Brock Templar and Kip Tupa chased down Dylan Mostek's outside run on second.
Bennington quarterback Trey Bird threw a deep ball on third down, but it fell incomplete with the Bears' Ethan Baessler in coverage.
Bennington eventually did score during the first quarter, however. Bird faked a handoff and threw a 7-yard score to Austin Hofts with 4:14 left to go.
Blair nearly answered with its own score before quarterback Bode Soukup was intercepted at the start of the second quarter. Before the pick, the sophomore converted a fourth-down sneak before connecting with Tupa on a long pass inside the Badgers' 20 yard line. Back Livai Opetaia carried the ball and broke the 10 on the final play of the first quarter before the turnover ended the drive.
Bennington later pushed its lead to 14-0 when Bird connected with an open Isaac Conner for a 13-yard scoring pass with 7:31 left before halftime. The score held through the break before the Badgers put the game away with a pair of long touchdown runs in the third quarter.
First, speedster Casey Colvert broke a 40-yard run down the Bennington sideline. Then, with just 25 seconds left before the end of the third, Mostek took off on a 49-yard scoring run down the middle of the field.
Blair's offense reached the Badgers' 29 yard line during the fourth quarter, but it finished scoreless for the first time this season.
Bennington, meanwhile, finished its own scoreless fourth with a 28-0 win. The Badgers had previously scored 45, 55, 35 and 42 points in wins against Grand Island Northwest, Aurora, Norris and Omaha Skutt, respectively.
Now, the Bears have four remaining regular season games. After playing four unbeatens in its first five games, coach Soukup's squad faces 2-3 Omaha Roncalli, 1-4 Omaha Gross, 1-4 Ralston and 2-3 South Sioux City over the next four weeks.
BHS will play those games with four captains after Mark Donner joined the ranks during the week leading up to the Bennington contest. No. 4 is a team captain alongside Tupa, Opetaia and Wyatt Ogle.
