WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons scored nine touchdowns - with five different players getting in on the action - and closed out the regular season in style by crushing the Versailles Tigers 63-14.
The Falcons raced out to a 55-7 lead by halftime and played the entire second half with a running clock due to the mercy rule. Blair Oaks was so dominant the freshmen got to play an entire quarter, spending all of the fourth quarter on the field.
Seven of the touchdowns were scored by seniors - Dominic Jamerson had three and Mikel Drehle and Caleb Bischoff had two apiece - while junior Adam Schell and freshman Tyler Gish had one each.
"We were able to get all the kids involved, and we got the seniors involved, which is what we're trying to do," Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said. "And then we could shut everybody down at half and play the freshmen the entire fourth quarter. Those were the things we were looking to do to end this on a positive note."
The win meant the Falcons ended the regular season with a mark of 7-2, including a 5-2 record in the Tri-County Conference. Versailles, meanwhile, is now 1-8 overall and went 0-7 in league play.
Blair Oaks was up 34-7 after one quarter. The night got off to a great start when Schell ripped off a 76-yard kickoff return to set up Blair Oaks at the Versailles' 7-yard line. Bischoff rumbled in one play later and the Falcons were up 7-0 after just 18 seconds of game time.
A 22-yard punt by the Tigers on their next possession netted a minus-18 yards when Schell returned it 40 yards to the Tigers' 3. The Falcons went backward after two plays and a penalty, but Mikel Drehle ripped off a 12-yard run to score at the 9:36 mark.
Blair Oaks turned a Versailles fumble into a 13-yard touchdown run by Jamerson with 7:39 left in the first period.
Then with 2:23 left in the frame, Jamerson capped off an 85-yard interception return to make it 27-0.
Versailles then went 73 yards in just three plays - a 63-yard pass from Sean Varner to Michael Allen being the big play - and scored on a 13-yard run by Johnathan Cunningham.
That came with :56.9 left in the period, but the Falcons scored by the :18.7 mark, on a 54-yard pass from Jordan Hair to Schell.
"The kids are gaining some confidence and starting to play a litle bit faster, and that's what we needed to do," Brad Drehle said.
The Falcons got second-quarter scores on a 1-yard run by Bischoff at the 10:49 mark, an 80-yard pass from Hair to Mikel Drehle with 9:14 left until halftime and a 5-yard run by Jamerson with 6:07 remaining.
At halftime the Falcons had just 103 more yards than the Tigers - leading 267-164 - but Schell's return yards and the two turnovers turned into points helped account for the 48-point lead.
Versailles' last score came with 6:34 left in the game on a 12-yard run by Dalton Schmidt. Blair Oaks finished out the scoring on a 60-yard pass from Braden Drehle to Gish with 4:11 left.
Chris Cooper made 7-of-8 PATs and Jared Lootens had a 2-point run after the final touchdown.
Blair Oaks outgained Versailles 299-214. The Falcons rushed the ball 33 times for 131 yards, led by Bischoff's 56 yards on 10 carries, and completed 5-of-8 passes for 168 yards.
Versailles rushed 38 times for 118 yards, led by Cunningham's 95 yards on 18 carries. The Tigers completed 7-of-19 passes for 96 yards.
The Falcons clinched the No. 2 seed in Class 3 District 6 and will host seventh-seeded Boonville at 7 p.m. Friday. With a win, Blair Oaks would then host the winner between third-seeded Fulton and sixth-seeded Eldon on Oct. 31.
Versailles is the eighth seed in the district and will travel Friday to California.