The Class B No. 10 Blair High School football team didn't score a homecoming game touchdown until just 3.6 seconds remained Friday night.
Quarterback Cooper Sorensen, who returned from injury to play against top-ranked Bennington, ran a 12-yard scramble into the north Krantz Field end zone, establishing the 35-7 final score.
The unbeaten Badgers won it.
“It's more of just a pride touchdown,” the senior said after the Bears' fourth loss in six games this fall. “When you're on offense, you never want to have a zero on the scoreboard at the end.”
So, coach Bryan Soukup's Bears didn't settle for zero. They earned the ball back with about 3 minutes of running clock left in the game and produced a scoring drive.
Sorensen connected on a pair of key throws to Hayden Daggett and Bo Meier first before running it in for the score on his own.
“The wide receivers were running great routes, occupying the DBs, and the line gave me time to escape,” the QB said, describing his first scoring play since he last was able to compete on the field Sept. 13 against Gretna.
The Blair touchdown, however, followed nearly four full dominating quarters from Bennington, which hasn't lost a single game since 2020. Badgers quarterback Houston Hill threw four touchdown passes to three receivers — Elliot Andersen, Hudson Neuverth and Jace Fitzgerald — while Morgan Schuman intercepted a Sorensen pass and returned it for another score during the opening quarter.
Though the three-time defending state champs fumbled on their first drive, they never trailed the Bears, who've come accustomed to playing the top of Class B. The loss to No. 1 Bennington was BHS' third-straight against a top-10 team. Coach Soukup's squad faces another Friday when it competes at unbeaten Seward.
Sorensen said he and his teammates are used to facing tough competition, though. They did it growing up and they're doing it now.
“Playing good teams isn't anything new to us,” he said. “We never go into a game thinking, 'Oh. They're good. We're losing this one.'”
The Bears instead go into games with anticipation.
“You've got to be 100 percent confident going into every game and our coaches tell us that,” Sorenson explained. “Us captains, we instill that into the team every week.”
Blair plays football games to win football games and another senior captain, Keenan Wyman, expects that to continue against the Bluejays on Friday and beyond.
“Just keep getting up and keep fighting,” he said.
It'll be business as usual this week as BHS prepares for the next challenge.
“Just watching film, getting better obviously and working on things we messed up tonight,” Wyman said of the Bears' plans. “We've just got to perfect some things.”
No. 1 BENNINGTON 35, No. 10 BLAIR 7
BEN (6-0) 14 14 7 0 — 35
BHS (2-4) 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
BEN: Elliott Andersen 53-yard pass from Houston Hill, Andersen PAT
BEN: Morgan Schuman 34-yard interception return, Andersen PAT
Second Quarter
BEN: Hudson Neuverth 14-yard pass from Hill, Andersen PAT
BEN: Andersen 50-yard pass from Hill, Andersen PAT
Third Quarter
BEN: Jace Fitzgerald 8-yard pass from Hill, Andersen PAT
Fourth Quarter
BHS: Cooper Sorensen 12-yard run, Blaise Baughman PAT
