WARDSVILLE, Mo. - With their fortunes on the line, the Blair Oaks Falcons owned the most important quarter of the whole season.
The Falcons outscored the Fulton Hornets 22-0 in the fourth period and rallied for a 48-29 win in the Class 3 District 6 championship game Friday night.
"The kids just fought, and that was the difference in the game," Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker said. "We just made a few more plays than they did."
The decisive spurt was the second time Blair Oaks ripped off 20 or more unanswered points in the contest, as the Hornets led 21-6 midway through the second quarter before the Falcons pulled to within 21-20 by halftime.
"I think our kids understand the importance of the whole 48 minutes," Walker said. "Our coaches do a good job of challenging the kids at halftime and the kids do a great job of responding."
The win improved the Falcons to 12-0 on the season and earned them a spot in the state quarterfinals. Blair Oaks will travel to Centralia (11-1), a 43-12 winner against Wright City in the Class 5 title contest, on Nov. 14.
Blair Oaks got the game's first score, as the Falcons took advantage of the Hornets losing a fumble while returning the opening kickoff.
Seven plays later, Cody Alexander scored the first of his four touchdowns on a 2-yard plunge and Blair Oaks led 6-0 with 9:21 to go in the quarter.
But the Hornets got the next two scores of the period, the first on a 5-yard run from Cameron Vaughn at the 6:05 mark. Jacob Kern kicked the first of his three PATs and it was 7-6.
Fulton scored again with 1:33 left in the quarter. Devin Masek hit Makygh Galbreath with a 4-yard pass and Galbreath fumbled it into the end zone, where Alec Fleetwood recovered it for the score to make it 14-6.
The Hornets then moved the lead to 21-6 with 9:28 left in the second quarter on a 51-yard scoring strike from Masek to Radarion Glover.
The Falcons started to rally when they put together a 72-yard, 14-play drive that was capped off with a 1-yard run by Jordan Hair that made it 21-12.
Fulton then put together an 11-play drive that was halted when Blair Oaks' Adam Schell came up with his second interception of the quarter - both of them in the end zone - and returned the ball all the way out to the Blair Oaks 27. A facemask by the Hornets tacked on 15 more yards, and the Falcons were at their own 42 with 1:22 left before halftime.
Blair Oaks then went to a swinging gate type of formation for four straight plays, getting down to the Fulton 19. A roughing the passer call on the Hornets eventually helped the Falcons get the ball to the Fulton 4 with :08 left in the half.
On the very next play, Hair hit Owen Luebbering with a 4-yard scoring pass with just :03 left and Alexander added the 2-point run to get Blair Oaks within 21-20 at halftime.
Blair Oaks took its first lead since the first quarter when it scored with 5:54 left in the third. Hair scrambled to get open and threw a pass that deflected off of Schell's fingers, only to be caught by Alexander for a 12-yard score that made it 26-21.
However, Fulton came back with a 10-play, 80-yard drive to retake the lead. Fleetwood made a pretty catch on a 36-yard pass from Masek, and then Glover caught the 2-point pass from Masek to make it 29-26.
But it was all Blair Oaks after that.
The Falcons scored on their first possession of the fourth quarter, with Hair and C.J. Closser hooking up on a 57-yard touchdown pass. Hair converted the 2-point run and it was 34-29 with 11:06 left.
Blair Oaks then forced a Fulton punt and put together a 13-play, 66-yard drive that ended in a 6-yard touchdown run by Alexander to push the lead to 40-29. One play before that, facing a fourth-and-3, Alexander had picked up 4 yards to keep the drive alive.
Fulton's next drive ended in an interception by Jake Van Ronzelen, and Alexander scored on the very next play from 21 yards out. Alexander added the 2-point run for the final margin with 3:06 showing on the clock.
Blair Oaks had an edge in total yardage of 487-345. Hair connected on 16-of-28 passes for 255 yards and the Falcons ran the ball 45 times for 232, with Hair leading the way with 121 yards on 18 carries.
Fulton, which ends the season at 9-3, ran the ball 36 times for 99 yards. Masek completed 20-of-40 passes for 246 yards.
Related: Missouri high school football scores from Friday, Nov. 6, 2015
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