With No. 9 Elkhorn North rallying late Friday night, Blair quarterback Bode Soukup dumped off a backward pass to Brock Templar at Krantz Field.
The sophomore back caught the football, looked upfield and threw a strike down the east sideline with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter.
“A 50-yard touchdown catch by J'Shawn Unger and the Bears can exhale a little easier,” Brian Abrahams said during the 94.7 FM Blair Radio broadcast. “They've got some breathing room now as they lead it 26-14.”
Twelve points wasn't enough, though. Elkhorn North scored twice more, finishing off a 27-point fourth quarter to beat coach Bryan Soukup's squad 27-26.
The Wolves (6-3 overall) clinched the Class B playoffs' ninth-seed with the win, while BHS (5-4) dropped to No. 11. While North faces 5-4 Lincoln Pius X in this Friday's first round, the Bears must travel to 6-3 Omaha Skutt — a program that's ended two of Blair's last three playoff runs dating back to 2018.
Coach Soukup's team may have finished the regular season with a higher playoff seed had it held onto the 20-point Senior Night lead it earned through three quarters with Elkhorn North.
Bode Soukup started to build that advantage when he connected with Ethan Baessler for the game's first score during the second quarter. The 2-yard pass produced a 6-0 halftime lead before the quarterback added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the third.
First, Soukup scored from 10 yards out, which led to a 2-point conversion pass to Unger for a 14-0 advantage. The Bears then recovered an off offensive snap by the Wolves, which set up a 2-yard QB keeper.
Elkhorn North finally scored its first points at the start of the fourth quarter, though. On 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard line, Josh Basilevac fired an 8-yard touchdown pass to Christian Young. It was the quarterback's first of four touchdown passes across the last 12 minutes.
Though BHS managed its 50-yard score from Templar to Unger, the Wolves' Tommy Meckna scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:10 left. Basilevac avoided a Blair blitz and connected with the wideout on a 34-yard, 4th-and-10 pass to complete the comeback.
The Bears had 70 seconds to respond, but an interception all but ended the game with 47.7 seconds still left.
BHS is 4-4 in contested games this fall, picking up wins against Plattsmouth (4-5), Ralston (4-5), Elkhorn Mount Michael (3-6) and Omaha Westview (1-8). It owns a forfeit victory against Omaha Buena Vista, too, but also losses to Omaha Gross (9-0), Bennington (9-0), Elkhorn (7-2) and the Wolves.
