Blair Oaks shakes off slow start, routs Eldon

Blair Oaks running back Dominic Jamerson looks downfield after warding off two Eldon Mustang defenders during Friday night's game at Falcon Athletic Complex.
Blair Oaks running back Dominic Jamerson looks downfield after warding off two Eldon Mustang defenders during Friday night's game at Falcon Athletic Complex.

WARDSVILLE, MO. - Trailing 12-7 early in the second quarter, the Blair Oaks football team decided to kick it into overdrive.

The Falcons scored 41 unanswered points to end Friday night's game with the Eldon Mustangs, roaring back to take a 48-12 victory at the Falcon Athletic Complex.

The win moved Blair Oaks to 8-1 overall and capped off a perfect 7-0 campaign in the Tri-County Conference. Eldon dropped to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in league play.

"I'm so proud of our kids, we hung in there and fought," Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said.

The game appeared like it might be a grind-it-out affair when Eldon went 95 yards in 19 plays on its initial drive, using up 10 minutes and 18 seconds. The drive was capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run by Levi Shinn, but the kick failed, leaving Eldon up 6-0.

But the Falcons needed just 1:08 to cover 62 yards, scoring a touchdown on a 5-yard run by Caleb Bischoff. Chris Cooper booted the first of six straight PATs to make it 7-6 Blair Oaks after one quarter.

Eldon came right back and used up four minutes while going 64 yards, capped off by a 1-yard run by Wyatt Greenwalt. But the Mustangs again missed the PAT, and the lead was 12-7 with 8:14 left before halftime.

That's all the Mustangs would get, and the Falcons would score three more times before halftime.

"We were able to begin to make some adjustments and figure things out," Drehle said.

Blair Oaks closed out the first-half scoring with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Hair to Haydn Lock and scoring runs of 26 yards and 1 yard by Dominic Jamerson put the Falcons up 28-12 at halftime.

Lock's score broke a tie with Justin Eiken for the school record for touchdown receptions in a season, as Lock now has 15.

Jamerson continued the onslaught in the third quarter, adding scoring runs of 15 and 28 yards to make it 42-12.

The Falcons' final score came in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run by Bischoff.

The 36-point margin could have been even greater if not for the fact the Falcons threw two interceptions on the end zone while approaching scores and fumbled the ball into the end zone on another drive.

The Falcons outgained the Mustangs by a slim 328-278 margin.

Blair Oaks rushed the ball 28 times for 218 yards. Jamerson led the way by carrying the ball 12 times for 137 yards. The Falcons completed 4-of-9 passes for 110 yards.

Eldon carried the ball 62 times for 218 yards, led by Shinn's 92 yards on 22 carries. The Mustangs completed 4-of-14 passes for 60 yards.

Both teams return to action Thursday in district play. Blair Oaks will host Tolton and Eldon will host Versailles.