Blair Oaks rolls past Southern Boone

Southern Boone Eagle Joe Stevens tackles Blair Oaks Falcon C.J. Closser Friday evening in Ashland, Mo.
Southern Boone Eagle Joe Stevens tackles Blair Oaks Falcon C.J. Closser Friday evening in Ashland, Mo.

ASHLAND, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons overcame a number of hurdles to capture a victory Friday night.

They overcame the Southern Boone rushing attack, which gave them fits early before they shut it down during the final three quarters.

They overcame the loss of two touchdowns to penalties.

And they overcame some injuries to key starters, making enough adjustments to overcome the Eagles 34-7.

"It was a matter of hanging in and just fighting," Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said. "The kids did a good job."

At the end of the first quarter, Southern Boone had the better of play on the field - leading 136-62 in total yardage - and on the scoreboard, where the Eagles led 7-0.

Southern Boone scored on its second possession, going 83 yards in eight plays, with the last 30 yards coming on a touchdown run by Grant Sandifer.

"They did some things different than what we've seen on film, had a great game plan," Drehle said. "We had to make some adjustments."

They paid dividends in the second quarter, where the Falcons dominated play on the field, even if it didn't show up much on the scoreboard.

Blair Oaks outgained Southern Boone 114-43 in the period and it could have been a bigger advantage if a 40-yard touchdown run by Mikel Drehle and a 45-yard scoring pass from Jordan Hair to Drehle weren't called back by penalties.

Still, the Falcons got two scores - a 5-yard touchdown pass from Drehle to Adam Schell and a 2-yard run by Caleb Bischoff - to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Bischoff kept the Falcons rolling after intermission, as he got a third-quarter touchdown run of 13 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown run of 35 yards to run the lead to 28-7.

The Falcons' final score came with 9 1/2 minutes left in the game when Cole Stockman intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.

"(Southern Boone head) coach (Trent) Tracy has done a good job," Brad Drehle said. "He's got them playing hard, a lot harder than what we've seen the last couple years. They did a nice job of scheming some things."

Blair Oaks finished the game without quarterback/wide receiver Mikel Drehle, who limped to the sideline midway through the fourth quarter, and defensive back/receiver/kick returner Adam Schell, who left with a shoulder injury with nine minutes remaining in the game.

Southern Boone held an edge in total yardage of 310-284. The Eagles carried the ball 40 times for 165 yards and completed 9-of-28 passes for 145.

Blair Oaks completed 14-of-25 passes for 192 yards and had 33 carries for 92 yards.

The Falcons improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Tri-County Conference, while the Eagles dropped to 0-5 and 0-3.

Blair Oaks returns to action Friday when it hosts School of the Osage for Homecoming. Southern Boone hosts California on Friday.