With 10 minutes left before the 7 p.m. season-opener at Krantz Field, a far-off lightning strike struck somewhere in Washington or another nearby county.
That strike delayed the Blair football team's Friday night game against Class B No. 4 Plattsmouth by 67 minutes. When the No. 9 Bears finally came back to the field and kicked off, they spent the first 7-plus minutes committing three turnovers.
BHS junior Dane Larsen recovered a Blue Devil fumble during that stretch, too, but PHS ultimately earned a 1-0 start with a 28-7 victory. The Bears were within seven points at halftime in spite of their errors, but finished with five total turnovers — three fumbles and two interceptions — and had a punt blocked.
All told, though, Blair coach Bryan Soukup couldn't shake the thought that the Bears were within 14-7 until Plattsmouth's Owen Prince returned an interception for a score with just 6:17 left in the third quarter. BHS was very much in the game against a team that reached last fall's Class B semifinals.
“I thought, 'You know, if they're a top-five team we're not too far off,'” Soukup said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game, especially defensively.”
The turnovers, including a blown catch on the opening kickoff, weren't ideal, though.
“Obviously, we've got some growing up to do,” Soukup said.
Several Bears underclassmen made their varsity debuts against the Devils.
“I had them all raise their hands,” the coach said. “And we've got a lot of them raising their hands.”
Those fresh faces squared off against a large Plattsmouth offensive line and one of the more heralded backs in the state, Christian Meneses. The 188-pounder earned his yards on the Devils' first-quarter scoring drive, but it was quarterback Nate Kramer who converted a fourth-down run into a 38-yard touchdown scamper 6:59 into the game.
The 7-0 score held until the 6:16 point of the second quarter when Blair notched its first and only touchdown of the season opener. Facing a 3rd-and-21, sophomore quarterback Bode Soukup — the coach's son — rolled out to his right and let go of a sharp pass down the east sideline. The spiral cleared the Plattsmouth defenders and hit senior Kip Tupa in stride. The wideout raced 64 yards for a score before Kaden Sears' extra-point kick evened the score.
“Obviously, it was nice to have a nice big highlight there tonight,” Bryan Soukup said, commenting on his first-year starting QB. “But he's still young and he made a few mistakes tonight. He'll get better.”
The pitch-and-catch stood out as BHS' best play as the Blue Devils went onto score the next 21 points, winning by that margin. Meneses scored on an 18-yard run to give Plattsmouth a 14-7 lead, Prince nabbed his pick-six and the aforementioned star back scored again in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils moved to 1-0 in convincing fashion, while Blair fell to 0-1 with Elkhorn Mount Michael next on the schedule. The Friday night Krantz Field game starts at 7 p.m. — provided lightning doesn't strike twice.
