Ground Tops Air, R-P Over BP

It was a contrast in styles, as #9 R-P (6-1) and #8 BP (6-1) met to conclude the regular season.  Davin Thompson and his coaching staff turned to a 5’7” 160-pound junior and he delivered mammothly.  The teams went up and down, R-P run-based with a wishbone, BP pass-based with a spread.  Trojan Ethan Sense had a huge first 15 minutes (161 yards, 3 TDs rushing).  R-P staved off an opening-kick-off on-side, a fake punt pass (Kobe Lind interception), and a late Blossom scoring threat (Damon Dau interception) to lead 20-7 at the half.  Out of intermission, BP drove.  After converting a 4th and 10, Seth Peterson hit Colin Lerum on an 18-yard TD pass (20-14).  R-P answered with an 8-play, 62-yard drive; Sense’s fourth rushing TD (26-14).  BP then scored in four plays, a Peterson to Gabe Hagen 25-yard TD pass (26-21).  Each team then failed on fourth down.  Early in the fourth, Landon Skalet hit Dawson Dahl on a 31-yard screen-pass TD (32-21).  BP came back with a 12-play, 65-yard drive, converting two fourth downs.  Peterson hit Tim Wolf for a 10-yard TD pass.  The Blossoms closed to 32-28 (7:16).  R-P’s ensuing drive featured 12 straight between-the-tackles, versus stacked box, run plays.  Sense had ten carries, including his fifth TD (2-yard run).  The Trojans went up 39-28 (1:25).  BP drove and scored, making it 39-35, but with 2.7 left. They recovered an onside and got one Hail Mary pass.  Dahl batted it.  Triton Meldahl intercepted it.  R-P got a big 39-35 win.  Sense (44-279, 5 TDs rushing) had a game parallel to Noah Carlson’s best (39-285, 5 TDs).  Trojan trench men Sam Kingsley, Ian Brown, Dominic Jenkins, Halen Schwendinger, and Matt Nelson paved the road.  R-P went penalty-less on seven of eight series’.  Skalet (5-6, 114 yards, TD) went to Dahl (3-57, TD) and Jake Paulson (2-57) when needed.  BP’s Peterson (21-41, 277 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs passing, 7-82 rushing) accounted for over 350 total yards (191 pass yards, 4 TDs after half).  Hagen (6-109, 2 TDs), Wolf (6-63, 2 TDs), and Lerum (3-57, TD) were his targets.  R-P ran for nearly 300 with over 400 total yards. BP passed for 277 with over 400 total yards.  R-P had 21 first downs, BP 19.  R-P had zero turnovers, BP three.   MSE-East second place R-P (6-1, 7-1) is 1A’s 2-seed and will host 7-seed Kingsland (1-7).  BP is the 3-seed.  R-P and BP are likely to meet in the semifinals.