Football coach Bryan Soukup gave his Blair Bears their flowers after Friday's 55-22 dismantling of Class B No. 2 Gretna at Krantz Field.
He complimented his quarterback, Cooper Sorensen, who played banged up against the Dragons, but stayed in and led BHS (2-1 overall) to victory. The coach mentioned his defensive coaching staff, players and offensive line, too.
Soukup, though, mentioned one more name specifically.
“Obviously, you know, Brock is Brock,” he said.
Senior back Brock Templar totaled more than 300 offensive yards against Gretna and tied a school record for touchdowns in a game with six. He dominated a matchup many people outside of the Bears' locker room had their doubts about.
“You always hear it. Just use it as fuel,” Templar said. “Let them talk. Let them say what they want.”
It didn't matter that outsiders felt the Dragons were going to win Friday's game in Blair.
“This group believed all week,” Soukup said of his Bears. “We didn't practice very well on Tuesday, but we practiced very well on Wednesday and Thursday.”
Throughout all of its preparation, the home team, collectively, felt it had a more physical group. That belief had merit as BHS produced 310 rushing yards and held quarterback Michael Knudsen and Gretna well below their scoring average.
“Our D-line played so good tonight. We just shut them down,” Templar said. “But our O-line also played insane. Opened up some big holes and just made my job very easy.”
BHS never trailed, securing a 27-7 halftime lead. Keenan Wyman and Andrew Smutny scored first-half touchdowns on Sorensen throws, while Templar also notched his first two scores. The back's second of the half came just after Gretna pulled within 13 points with less than a minute left before the break.
“We kind of went back-and-forth on taking a knee there right before half,” Soukup said, grinning.
The Bears opted not to run out the clock, though, deciding instead to give the ball to their best playmaker — Templar.
“Anytime you give No. 6 the ball, you never know what's going to happen,” the coach explained.
BHS continued to give Templar the ball during the second half, too, as the senior accumulated 265 yards on the ground, unofficially. The back produced four more touchdown runs across the third and fourth quarters with the longest covering 64 yards just 24 seconds into the final 12 minutes.
All the while, the Bears' defense continued to make plays. Blaise Baughman notched a sack at the end of the third quarter before Carson Faue picked off a Dragon pass during the fourth.
“Coach (Trevor) Templar and our defensive staff put together a heck of a game plan to kind of stop their passing game,” Soukup said. “They came in with 888 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions, and we picked them off twice.”
The complete effort produced a 33-point win. The celebration was subdued after a serious Gretna leg injury caused officials to call the lopsided game with 3:42 left, but it was still a reward for the Bears' belief against the second-ranked squad in Class B.
“We know who we are,” Templar said. “We know what we can do and we showed them that tonight.”
BHS next plays at Norris on Friday at 6 p.m.
BLAIR 55, No. 2 GRETNA 22
BHS (2-1); GHS (2-1)
TEAM STATS
(Blair — Stat — Gretna)
24 — First Downs — 23
35-310 —Rushes-Yards — 26-100
9-15-0 — Comp-Att-Int — 21-37-2
51-493 — Total Plays/Yardage — 64-367
0 — Turnovers — 3
5-8 — Third Down Conversions — 5-9
0-0 — Fourth Down Conversions — 0-5
