WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The way C.J. Closser has been with predictions lately, he'd better start buying some lottery tickets.
Closser scored the first two touchdowns of the game for Blair Oaks in the Falcons' 48-19 win against Owensville on Friday at the Falcon Athletic Complex, and he had a feeling both were coming.
After Owensville scored on its third snap from scrimmage - a 61-yard catch-and-run play just 1:30 into the game - Closser got Blair Oaks right back into it.
With the ensuing kickoff heading out of bounds, Closser tip-toed along the sideline and snagged it at the 18-yard line. Thirteen seconds later, he was celebrating in the end zone.
"I was debating (about letting it go out of bounds)," Closser said. "But I told (Blair Oaks head) coach (Terry) Walker before the game that the first one I touched on a kick return, I was going to take it back. So I had to keep my promise."
When Blair Oaks scored again, roughly four minutes into the second quarter, Closser again showed his skills as a prognosticator.
Facing a third-and-12 at the Owensville 17, Jordan Hair hit Closser with a perfect pass for a touchdown and a lead the Falcons would never relinquish.
"I told Jordan before the play, "Just throw it and I'll go catch it. We're going to score on this,'" Closser said.
Hair scored on a 3-yard run 41/2 minutes later to make it 20-7 in favor of Blair Oaks, and the Falcons held a 20-13 lead at halftime.
Two scores in each of the third and fourth quarters - two touchdown runs by Jake Van Ronzelen and one each by Cody Alexander and Hair - helped the Falcons cruise to the victory.
The first drive of the second half may have been the key to the game. The Falcons had won the opening toss and deferred, so they came out of the locker room and got just what they wanted - a prolonged scoring drive.
Blair Oaks ran more than six minutes off the clock and covered 67 yards in 17 plays, only one a pass play.
"I'm proud of the kids, because they have started to buy in to the fact a 3-yard gain is a good play," Walker said. "I thought we were consistent (getting tough yards when necessary). There was one fourth-down play in the game where we didn't get it, but all the other ones, they bowed their neck and we stuck it in there."
The Falcons then forced the Dutchmen into a third-and-13 situation on their next possession, and when Owen Luebbering recovered a fumble, Blair Oaks was set up at the Owensville 24.
The Falcons needed just two plays to score, as a 23-yard pass from Hair to Closser got the ball down to the 1 before Alexander took it the rest of the way.
"I was so very proud of the kids, because at halftime we challenged them," Walker said. "We wanted to drive it right down their throat, and that's what they did. And I told them I then wanted a three-and-out, and lo and behold if we didn't get a three-and-out."
Owensville, which had moved the ball fairly well during the first half, saw that come to an end when quarterback Wyatt Ellis left the game with a shoulder injury with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. He did not return.
The Dutchmen had nearly 200 yards of offense in the first half, but with Ellis sidelined, had just 44 in the second half. Owensville carried the ball 11 times for minus-14 yards in the second half and ended up with just 43 yards rushing for the game on 26 attempts.
"I thought we played a lot better defensively and offensively this week versus last week against Moberly," Walker said. "That's not to say that we played poorly at Moberly, because we didn't. But we controlled the line of scrimmage (against Owensville) and when you do that, good things tend to happen."
Good things like nearly having two 100-yard rushers. Alexander carried the ball 19 times for 109 yards and Van Ronzelen had surpassed 100 before a couple late rushes for loss left him at 95 yards on 18 carries.
"The toss is something we've been working on since the summer and you've got to have blocks out in space, and I know we had several players make some really blocks," Walker said. "It's a team effort and yes, some guys get to score the touchdowns, but it's not lost on us as coaches all the other guys that do their job to make that happen."
Blair Oaks ran 73 offensive plays, a whopping 66 of them on the ground for 310 yards.
"It felt great seeing the team come together and put together a good win," Closser said. "It was pretty awesome."
Blair Oaks (2-0) will host Eldon (1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.