WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Don't be surprised if tonight's Class 3 District 6 semifinal football game turns into a track meet.
The Blair Oaks Falcons, with several burners on their team, welcome another squad that has plentiful amounts of speed, the Fulton Hornets.
"(Fulton coach Pat Kelley) and I were talking the other day and he told me, "You guys look fast on film,'" Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said. "And I said, "Coach, have you sat and watched yourself? And you keep bringing them in. One goes out and another one comes in. It's like, holy smokes.'"
While the Hornets (6-4) have a number of game-changers, the two main culprits are senior quarterback Sam Christensen and junior running back Travis Dean.
"They make you play right," Drehle said. "If you make a mistake, they both have the ability to hurt you. (Christensen) does it because he's such a big, physical player, and (Dean) does it with his speed."
That duo combined for 353 rushing yards as the third-seeded Hornets thrashed sixth-seeded Eldon 65-28 last Friday. But with the team racking up 571 totals yards last week, it's not just a two-man team.
"You've got kids on the edge who can make plays," Drehle said. "You're dealing with their receivers in (senior Devin Gibson) and (junior Radarion Glover), those kids are good. Then they run this little No. 7 (senior Dominique Ford) in there and you're like, "Where did he come from?' Then (senior Noah Braun) is standing on the field and the next thing you know, you're chasing bodies everywhere.
"So it's going to be about being correct in alignment, being correct in your assignments and playing fast and physical. You have to play that way, but that's this time of year."
The Hornets, who operate out of the spread, will run roughly 70 percent of the time.
"They're pretty big up front, and they're fast and athletic. That's the thing you keep seeing on tape," Drehle said. "They're predominantly a run team, but they have the ability to throw it and they've got some receivers, when they do catch it, can hurt you. They had a 95-yard screen pass against Eldon. That tells you the kind of speed and explosiveness they have."
Christensen has completed 82-of-134 passes for 1,227 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. He's the team's second-leading rusher with 513 yards on 101 carries (5.1 avg.) with nine touchdowns.
Dean is the Hornets' leading rusher with 1,117 yards on 138 carries (8.1 avg.) with 11 touchdowns. Ford has added 339 yards on 58 carries with five TDs.
"The big thing is we've got to eliminate big plays, they're able to get yards in chunks," Drehle said. "They may go 1 (yard), 3, 7, minus-4, then 60. You've got to eliminate that big play. How do you do it is the big question. We've got to do it by playing fast and physical and tackling well."
Gibson is the leading receiver with 21 catches for 436 yards and six TDs, while Braun has 17 catches for 189 yards and a TD.
"They are playing well at the right time of year," Drehle said. "... It's going to be a challenge, but it's one we're ready for. It's that time of year where we're ready to step up and take that challenge."
When the second-seeded Falcons have the ball, they'll be facing a Fulton defense in a 4-4 front. Junior linebacker Kobe Kaminski leads the Hornets with 135 tackles - 79 solos and 56 assists. Sophomore linebacker Luke Berrey is next with 88 stops - 45 solos and 43 assists.
"Kaminski, he's 6-1, 195 and he's a heck of a player. He keeps showing up on film," Drehle said. "They rotate some defensive linemen through there that are fairly big bodies. They keep kids fresh and they just keep coming after you."
Drehle is happy to be playing at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"It's always good to be at home," he said. "It keeps your routine the same. We're such creatures of habit, especially this time of year, so anytime we can be normal, that's what we want to be."
Drehle added the Falcons are reaping the benefits of this year's expanded playoff schedule, which has increased the amount of time between the first couple games from five days to seven.
"We're banged-up this time of year and trying to get everybody back," he said. "Hopefully the extra rest will do us some good. If we would have had to have played (Tuesday or Wednesday), it would have been a real struggle for some of them. Hopefully two more days will put us in a lot better place."
Notes: The teams have five common opponents. Both beat Versailles (Blair Oaks 63-14 and Fulton 43-6), Moberly (Blair Oaks 21-3 and Fulton 23-13), Boonville (Blair Oaks 37-7 and Fulton 20-6) and Eldon (Blair Oaks 28-6 and Fulton 65-28). The Falcons beat School of the Osage 55-6, while the Hornets lost 41-14. ... Fulton's other wins are against Missouri Military Academy (28-0) and Kirksville (41-20). The Hornets' other losses were to Marshall (52-42), Hannibal (42-7) and Mexico (20-13).
Blair Oaks hosts Fulton - Updates on Twitter: @tjrackers and @FultonSunSports. Watch live online: www.team1sports.com/index.php/videoPlayer/view?broadcast=91539
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