It was a big night for Blair High School football.
Krantz Field has new turf, it has a new concession stand and the Bears are wearing new home uniforms this fall. Most importantly, though, coach Bryan Soukup's team had a Friday night opponent for the first time since its one-win 2021 season.
“We really were desperate to have a game to show everyone what we have,” said junior quarterback Bode Soukup, the coach's son. “I'm happy that, you know, the whole town came out. Packed stadium.”
The Bears delivered for their supporters, blasting the Plattsmouth Blue Devils 40-21 with an explosive offensive attack. The opener was BHS' first win of the season, but also its first since Sept. 3 last year.
“Blessed to be apart of this team,” Bode said in the aftermath.
His Bears earned their first of six touchdowns by six different players in the opening minutes. Brady Brown, a junior who missed his sophomore season due to injury, caught a 6-yard pass in the end zone to push his squad out front. He set up the score, too, returning the season's opening kickoff across midfield and into the Devils' territory.
“When you have a guy like Brady, you can always count on him,” Bode Soukup said. “Getting us yardage like that got the energy ramped right up.”
Blair held that momentum, too, never trailing. It led 13-7 after one quarter, 26-14 after two and 33-14 through three.
“Bode did a good job spreading it around throwing the ball, our offensive line did a great job protecting and, obviously, our run game was pretty solid,” coach Soukup said. “Pretty good overall game offensively.”
Taking shotgun snaps from center Brayton Osius, the Bears' QB finished with three touchdown passes. Bode's second to Shea Wendt covered 64 yards and produced a 13-0 advantage before his third, a 6-yard slant to 6-foot-4 J'Shawn Unger, put the Bears ahead 33-14.
Though he threw an interception on a fourth-down heave at the end the first half, Soukup's father said the second-year starter is much improved this fall.
“He's night and day better than last year already. I mean, he's matured a lot,” the coach said. “Grown up a lot. That experience helps a ton.”
Blair's stable of runners complimented Bode's efforts, too. Brock Templar, Dane Larsen and Ethan Baessler all picked up their first rushing touchdowns of the season against Plattsmouth. Larsen, the senior bruiser, covered 3 yards on his score, while Templar and Baessler ripped off touchdown runs of 74 and 76 yards, respectively.
“We have a lot of guys that can do some damage with the football,” Bryan Soukup said.
“Can't be more happy about our line,” Bode added.
Baessler's fourth-quarter sprint down the east sideline capped BHS' scoring. The junior credited his offensive line, but also flashed the speed that earned him a state track and field medal in the 100-meter dash last spring.
“I broke (the play) to the outside and saw that there was running room and I was like, 'I've got to get there someway,” Baessler said. “One way or another.”
Defensively, the speedster added an interception during the fourth quarter as the Bears limited the Devils to 14 points minus the fumble recovery the road team scored on first. Baessler limped off of the field after his pick, a common sight Friday as the Bears dealt with leg cramps throughout the game.
“There was a lot of cramping going on in that game, so we had a lot of rotators in on defense that we weren't expecting to actually get in tonight,” the junior said. “But they got the job done. It was awesome.”
The tight leg muscles were about all that went wrong for Blair against Plattsmouth.
“That's just part of it sometimes,” coach Soukup said. “Unfortunately we had a ton of it tonight, but, hopefully, we get it out of system and we're ready to go week three.”
Blair's second-week game against first-year school Omaha Buena Vista was canceled last week. The Bison will not have a varsity season this fall, while the Bears will officially move to 2-0 going into their next game Sept. 9 at Ralston.
BHS will then play on its new Krantz Field turf again Sept. 16.
