BISMARCK — Learning history is part of the curriculum at every school and Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin is no different.
But, writing your own chapter of history is something very unique.
The Blue Devils football team did that on Saturday with a 21-14 victory over Seneca in the second round of the IHSA Class 2A Playoffs at Peyton-Moss Field.
For the first time in school history, a Bis-Henn/Ross-Al team has won 11 games and it’s just the second time the program has reached the state quarterfinals, and its first in Class 2A.
“I think we cemented ourselves as the best team in school’s history,” Bis-Henn/Ross-Al senior Evan Parish said. “We knew that’s what we were going to do coming into the season.”
But what about the Blue Devils lack of postseason success.
In 25 previous playoff appearances, Bis-Henn/Ross-Al was 1-12 in second-round playoff games.
“I’m sure a lot of the people in the county thought that our season would be done in the second round,” BHRA senior Evan Parish said. “It’s always been a thing since I’ve been here. People have called it the second-round curse.
“Well, we don’t believe in curses, we don’t believe in any of that. It wasn’t going to be a curse that held us back, it was just going to be how well we played and we played great. I love my guys.”
Parish scored twice in the first half for the Blue Devils with a 2-yard run in the first quarter and a 52-yard pass from Anderson Thomas in the second quarter.
Seneca (9-2 overall) tied the game at 14-14 right before halftime on two touchdown runs from Cameron Shriey. Both scores came in the final minute of the second quarter.
The Blue Devils scored the eventual game-winning touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter as Thomas connected with Chaz Dubois on a 6-yard scoring strike.
The Fighting Irish response was halted with a fumble with 8 minutes, 29 seconds left that was recovered by Ethan Hall.
Bis-Henn/Ross-Al ran out the clock with a 16-play, 67-yard drive as they converted on three straight third down plays — one from Parish, one from Thomas and the last coming on a 5-yard run by Conner Powell.
With the victory, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin will travel to Palos Heights next Saturday to face the Chicago Christian Knights, a 24-14 winner over Tri-Valley.
For the complete recap of the Blue Devils victory with additional photos, see Tuesday’s edition of the Commercial-News.