Wildcats win barn burner to clinch playoff berth

The Blair-Taylor football team will be playing in the postseason for the sixth straight year after it clinched a playoff berth with a 46-32 win over Eleva-Strum last week.

The teams combined to score 64 points in the first half as B-T took a 38-26 lead into halftime. The Wildcats scored early in the fourth to put the game away.

The win kept B-T in a second-place tie in the Dairyland Conference standings. State-ranked Alma/Pepin clinched the conference title as B-T is tied with Cochrane-Fountain City and Melrose-Mindoro for second place. 

The Wildcats close out the regular season with a home game against Independence/Gilmanton this week. They will likely find out the Level One playoff matchup on Saturday; B-T is projected to be in Division Seven. 

B-T 46 E-S 32

For the second straight week, the B-T football team took control of the game on the ground. 

The Cardinals controlled the air, intercepting B-T quarterback Tavian Shramek three times and limiting the Wildcats to 77 yards in the air. However, B-T ran for 285 yards and four touchdowns and added a kick return for a touchdown in the win.

DaVonne Turner got the game started with a bang, returning the opening kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals fired back as Brennan Hanner hit Alex Anderson for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the game. 

B-T’s first offensive possession ended with a 36-yard touchdown run by Jackson Shramek. E-S responded with a two-yard run by Ryan Julson. The two-point conversion gave the Cardinals a 14-12 lead.

E-S scored again, returning a Tavian Shramek interception for a touchdown to take a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Jackson Shramek brought B-T back within two with a four-yard touchdown run. The Wildcats took the lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass by Tavian Shramek a possession later.

Hanner and Anderson connected with a 58-yard touchdown pass to put the Cardinals back in the lead, 26-24, but B-T scored twice before the end of the half.

B-T retook the lead with a 45-yard touchdown run by Jackson Shramek and a five-yard run late in the first half gave them a 38-26 advantage at halftime.

The Wildcats added a 22-yard run early in the fourth quarter to go ahead by 20 points before E-S scored late.

B-T gained 285 yards on the ground as Jackson Shramek ran for 172 yards and four touchdowns on 16 attempts. Tavian Shramek ran for 88 yards and Ethan Kniseley finished with 25. Tavian Shramek had touchdown passes to Dummer and Turner in the game.

Julson ran for 177 yards to lead E-S while Anderson ran 18 times for 61 yards and caught four passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns. All four of Hanner’s completions went to Anderson. 

B-T — 

Rushing (att./yds.) — J. Shramek 16/172 T. Shramek 13/88 Kniseley 4/25

Receiving (rec./yds.) — Turner 2/42 Dummer 3/18 Kniseley 2/17

Passing (comp./att./yds.) — T. Shramek 7/15/77

Tackles (solo/total) — McAdams 0/1 Lien 5/13 Dummer 0/1 T. Shramek 2/4 Trapp 1/1 Kelly 3/10 Turner 4/7 Wagner 2/2 J. Shramek 2/5 Kniseley 2/4 Jahr 1/1 Kling 3/7 Paulson 4/11 Truschka 4/8 Nehring 5/6 Andrews 1/1