Long drive puts Wildcats in control of Mustangs

A 99-yard third-quarter touchdown drive put the Blair-Taylor football team in control for good in its 30-20 win over Melrose-Mindoro on Friday.

B-T scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and held a 22-14 lead before marching 99 yards for a touchdown and then a two-point conversion near the end of the third quarter.

The win put B-T at 5-3 overall and 3-3 in Dairyland Conference play. The team is likely to receive a spot in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs, but a win in the regular season finale this week could give the team a better seed. 

B-T closes the regular season at home against Whitehall (3-5, 2-4). The Norse are coming off of a 51-8 win over Augusta and would likely need a win to be considered for playoff eligibility. 

B-T 30 Mel-Min 22

In perhaps the game’s most pivotal possession, the Wildcats came through with big plays and, eventually, a touchdown to put the game away. 

The Wildcats had an eight-point lead but were in dangerous territory with the ball at their own 1-yard line. B-T went to the air on the first play and quarterback Kole Trapp was pressured in his own end zone. The senior scrambled to his right before firing downfield and finding CJ Dummer. The senior receiver was well covered, but he jumped up and made the catch for a big gain, and a 15-yard penalty on the Mustangs pushed the ball even further down the field.

Cole Johnson added a big run on the drive before he finished it with a short touchdown. Trapp hit Connor Kruse for the two-point conversion that put B-T ahead 30-14 at the end of the third quarter.

The Mustangs scored a touchdown in the fourth, but B-T maintained a double-digit lead until the final whistle. 

The Wildcats started strong offensively with two touchdowns in the first quarter. The first was a four-yard run by Trapp. The two-point conversion put B-T ahead 8-7. 

Johnson added a short touchdown run with about two minutes left in the first to give B-T a 14-7 advantage at the end of the quarter.

The Mustangs tied the game with a touchdown and point after early in the second quarter. 

A long punt return by Dummer set up B-T’s only score in the third quarter. The Wildcats had struggled offensively in the quarter, but Dummer’s return gave the team the ball in Mel-Min territory with less than a minute remaining in the half. Trapp hit Payton Kelly for a big pass play, then finished the drive himself with a two-yard touchdown run. Trapp hit Dummer for the two-point conversion to put B-T ahead 22-14 at halftime. 

Trapp completed eight of 13 passes for 148 yards, while rushing for 28 more yards and two touchdowns. Johnson ran for 163 yards and two more scores. 

Blair-Taylor

Rushing (attempts/yards) — Johnson 24/163 Trapp 9/28

Receiving (rec./yards) – Dummer 2/53 Kelly 2/41 Kruse 1/24 Johnson 2/22 Miller 1/8

Passing (comp./att./yds.) — Trapp 8/13/148