WAVERLY, Neb. — Defense is the reason Blair is going to the Class B semifinals for the first time since the Bears' 1988 championship season.

Blair (10-1) opened the scoring on a blocked punt return, then forced three fumbles and intercepted a pass to defeat No. 4 Waverly 24-6 Friday night in a quarterfinal game before an overflow crowd of 2,300 at Vikings Stadium.

“We've been a bend-but-don't-break defense the whole year,'' Blair coach Darren Harsin said. “Waverly was going to get yards, but we focused on making them earn them and not give up big plays.”

Once No. 6 Blair's lead grew to 24-0 late in the third quarter, it forced Waverly to junk its wishbone offense and have Nebraska recruit Tyler Evans throw on nearly every down.

He ended with 176 yards and a touchdown but ran for only 31 yards as Waverly (9-2) gained 166 on the ground.

Two of the Vikings' fumbles were drive-killers, at the Blair 5 in the first quarter and at the Bears' 10 in the third.

“We didn't anticipate that,'' Vikings coach Mike Johnson said “We haven't turned it over like that all year.''

Blair's Jake Schany, a sophomore running back-linebacker, forced Waverly's first two miscues.

He blocked the punt, with Jerad Petersen scooping up the ball for a 22-yard return, then Schany came up with an Evans fumble after the Vikings drove on their next possession.

Ryan Randall's 1-yard run with 8:52 left in the second quarter was a short-field touchdown for the Bears. T.J. Schindler recovered a fumble at the Waverly 27.

Randall, the state's leading rusher, picked up 181 yards on 32 carries to increase his season total to 2,550 yards entering Blair's Nov. 14 semifinal at No. 2 Omaha Skutt.

Sean Wade's 35-yard field goal, after some confusion, made it a 17-0 game at halftime. Blair was called for illegal substitution on a fourth-down play as it appeared quarterback Jordan Flynn spiked the ball to stop the clock.

Flynn's 50-yard pass play to Joey Gentzler pushed the lead to 24-0.

Waverly avoided the shutout on Evans' 30-yard pass to Nick Maguire with 3:36 left.

Blair (10-1)...............7 10 7 0—24

At Waverly (9-2)..................0 0 0 6—6

B: Jerad Petersen 22 blocked punt return (Sean Wade kick)

B: Ryan Randall 1 run (Wade kick)

B: FG Wade 35

B: Joey Gentzler 50 pass from Jordan Flynn (Wade kick)

W: Nick Maguire 30 pass from Tyler Evans (pass failed)

A: 2,300 (est.)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: B, Randall 32-181, Aaron Vandry 3-16, Flynn 2-3, Jake Schany 3-13, team 1-minus 1. W, Evans 8-31, Jared Janssen 20-111, Jordan Anderson 6-18, Adam Peterson 3-6, Blake Greve 1-0.

PASSING: B, Flynn 5-5-0 93. W, Evans 15-32-1 176.

RECEIVING: B, Gentzler 3-69, Matt Zuroski 1-3, Jeff Bennett 1-9, Randall 0-12. W, Zach Martin 3-44, Maguire 4-61, Taylor Guenther 6-61, Kegan Murphy 2-10.

Contact the writer:

444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com