Football Game Preview: Bennington Badgers vs. Blair Bears

Bennington is preparing for their first district matchup of the season on Friday. They will be playing at home against the Blair Bears at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Bennington has four straight wins, Blair has 11 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Bennington is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Gretna: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Badgers blew the Dragons out of the water with a 35-7 final score. Considering the Badgers have won three games by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Ty Bouaphakeo

Passer Rating (Career)

09/26/25 @ Gretna	145.8
09/06/24 @ Gretna East	141.7
08/29/25 @ Waverly	140.7
09/12/25 @ Hastings	138.2
10/11/24 vs Elkhorn	137.5

Ty Bouaphakeo was his usual excellent self, throwing for 308 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 12.8 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 90 yards. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in passer rating (145.8). Bennington's leading receiver Parker Douglas was Bouaphakeo's top target yet again, picking up 162 receiving yards and a pair of scores.

Another reason for the win was Bennington's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Jacob Sanger refused to say out of the backfield, picking up a sack all by himself.

Meanwhile, Blair played a tough contest on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They took a blow against Elkhorn North, falling 44-14. The Bears were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 30-0.

Blair's loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Bennington, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.

Everything came up roses for Bennington against Blair in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the team secured a 35-7 win. In that matchup, the Badgers amassed a halftime lead of 28-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.