WARSAW - Led by a record-setting effort by quarterback Jordan Hair, the Blair Oaks Falcons survived a shootout with the Warsaw Wildcats on Friday and notched a 56-35 victory.
Hair racked up 396 yards passing, breaking the single-game mark of 351 set by Justin Eiken during the 2006 season.
The sophomore connected on 16-of-22 passes during a night where the two teams combined for 1,052 yards of offense.
"I felt great out there," Hair said. "The way we all played was great."
Hair had a hot hand early, connecting on all but one of his first 10 pass attempts, resulting in four touchdowns and 269 yards while spotting the Falcons to a 35-7 lead.
The first three touchdown passes came during a first quarter in which the Falcons took a 21-0 lead. Hair connected with Haydn Lock for an 85-yard scoring strike, then with Mikel Drehle from 23 yards and Lock again, this time from 38 yards.
Each team scored twice in the second quarter. Blair Oaks' tallies came on a 42-yard run by Dominic Jamerson and a 58-yard pass from Hair to Drehle. Warsaw got two touchdown passes from Jeremy Eierman, one covering 30 yards to Bailey Jelinek and the other going 8 yards to Joey Cooner.
While the Falcons' 35-14 halftime lead looked comfortable, it didn't after a wild third quarter. After an 86-yard scamper by Eierman on the first play from scrimmage cut it to 35-21, Blair Oaks got a 54-yard scoring run from Caleb Bischoff. But the Wildcats tacked on two more scores - a 68-yard pass from Eierman to Jelinek and a 6-yard run by Eierman - to get within 42-35.
The Wildcats actually had the ball near midfield during the start of the fourth quarter with a chance to tie, but the Falcons were able to turn them over on downs.
Blair Oaks then marched down the field and got the first of two 1-yard touchdown runs in the final frame by Bischoff.
"We told our kids, "You've got a choice on how you want to go out here. You guys can step up and bow your neck and make some plays, or you can lay down,'" Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said.
Blair Oaks (6-1 overall, 5-0 Tri-County Conference) didn't lay down, and the Falcons amassed 605 yards of offense while holding on for the win. In addition to Hair's 396 yards through the air, the Falcons ran the ball 32 times for 209 yards.
Eierman had a big night as well, accounting for 396 of the 447 yards for Warsaw (4-3, 2-3). The junior completed 13-of-29 passes for 214 yards and carried the ball 37 times for 182 yards.
Blair Oaks returns to action Friday when it travels to Versailles.
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