UPDATE: Blair Oaks beat Centralia 51-26 today in a Class 3 high school football quarterfinal game. The Falcons advance to play John Burroughs in a semifinal match next week.
News Tribune sports reporter Tom Rackers covered today's Blair Oaks quarterfinal football game in Centralia. Check out his gametime tweets: @tjrackers on Twitter. His game story will be posted online later and published in Sunday's News Tribune newspaper.
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Preview story, posted earlier:
WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Though it doesn't count as a loss, the last time the Blair Oaks football team found itself on the short end of the scoreboard, it was against the Centralia Panthers.
When the Falcons and Panthers play for real today, there will be a whole lot more on the line.
That first matchup came in the preseason Jamboree at the Falcon Athletic Complex, which took place exactly one week before the season opener. The Falcons lost 12-0 to the Panthers in their first of two situational scrimmages before coming back to tie Helias at 6.
It was an eye-opener for Blair Oaks, which has won all 12 of its real games this season heading into today's 1 p.m. Class 3 quarterfinal game at Centralia (11-1).
"Centralia came in (to the Jamboree) and they were extremely fired-up," Blair Oaks coach Terry Walker said. "They punched us right in the mouth and we wish we would have responded better. But the kids learned from that and have moved forward from that point. We certainly hope we'll give them a tough contest (today)."
Following the Jamboree, Walker gave the Falcons a fiery postgame talk they haven't seen the likes of since.
"I think the kids learned a little bit about me at the Jamboree and what our expectations were as a staff," Walker said with a smile. "We have incredibly high expectations for our kids, and I don't think that's a bad thing. I think the kids have high expectations for themselves, and if you want to achieve any of those, then there's a level of work that goes into it, and the kids have done that, and that's why we're where we're at right now."
The winner of today's game will be just two wins away from a state championship, but Walker said the Falcons aren't worried about that right now.
"We're looking at this week as just another week, literally, because you're got to win the week," he said. "If you prepare the best you can and you work as hard as you possibly can during the week, then you don't have to apologize for anything on Saturday."
Today's game matches up a pair of high-scoring offenses, as the Falcons come in averaging 54.8 points per game and the Panthers are at 33.7.
"Defensively, it will be our toughest challenge of the year to date, just because of the kids they have and the positions they're in and their offensive line," Walker said.
Centralia runs 80 percent of the time, with junior running back Klayton Marty leading a varied attack with 890 yards on 138 carries (6.4 average) with 12 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Nick Romine is next at 801 yards on 125 carries (6.4) and nine scores.
Junior running back Jackson Evans has 81 carries for 457 yards (5.6) and seven touchdowns and senior running back Taylor Burton has 46 carries for 268 yards (5.8) and five touchdowns. Five other ballcarriers have at least two touchdown runs each.
"They run the veer, triple option, they run the midline, fullback trap, some wing counter and then a little bit of toss and jet sweep," Walker said. "All their running plays are really good plays and they take advantage of their personnel. Their coach has done a good job of putting them in a position to be successful and play to their strengths at the same time, and they've got an effective play-action game."
When the Panthers do pass, Romine has completed 37-of-78 passes (47.4 percent) for eight touchdowns with three interceptions. Nick McCoy, a senior, has a team-high 10 receptions for 132 yards with one score. Zach Townsend, a junior, has just five catches on the year, but he leads the team with four touchdown receptions.
"Teams at this point, they better have more than one weapon, or that weapon better be really, really, really, really good," Walker said. "Centralia, I think, is a team that has more than one weapon.
"For us, our focus on an option team, and a trap team, is to stop the fullback. So we will certainly do our part to try to the control the fullback and the line of scrimmage."
And controlling the line could be a tough task.
"They're definitely going to be bigger than we are - they have a couple kids who are 250, 260 (pounds)," Walker said. "Size-wise they are probably a little bigger than Eldon was. Eldon had a couple big kids, but I don't recall them having five or six really big kids. Centralia certainly has some size on their offensive line.
"They do a good job of firing off the football and they just move the pile. If they get 3 yards, they're right on time with the chains. We've got to figure out a way to prevent them from getting 3 yards."
But you can't do that at the expense of putting all your players within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
"Where they take advantage of teams is when you're forced to put eight or nine guys in the box to try to control the running game," Walker said. "Then that makes the passing game that much easier. It's going to be a tough task and we'll do the best we can."
Blair Oaks averaged 58.7 points per game in its three district contests and will look to continue that hot play against Centralia.
"Ideally they want to run a 3-3 stack and they've got three really good-looking down players that do a good job of controlling the running game. They've done a pretty good job of making teams one-dimensional.
"We're going to have to execute in the run and the pass game. If we can't protect or control the line of scrimmage at least a little bit offensively, we're going to have a really tough day."
Blair Oaks will also have to deal with a decided home-field advantage for Centralia.
"I look at it as an opportunity, and I hope that's how the kids look at it," Walker said. "It's going to kind of be us against the world when we go up there. we know we're going to bring a lot of fans, but we know certainly Centralia is going to have a home-field advantage.
"And we'll be playing on grass, which our kids will have to make the adjustment to, and I'm sure we will. We're just going to go up there and try to be as prepared as we can and play incredibly hard."
Notes: The Falcons and Panthers haven't met since the 2009 season, when Centralia posted a 56-8 win in the Class 2 sectional round. That snapped a five-game winning streak for Blair Oaks in the series, which is currently tied at five wins apiece. ... The winner of today's game will play next Saturday against the winner of today's game between Park Hills Central (10-2) and John Burroughs (11-1). Blair Oaks would host Park Hills Central or play at John Burroughs.
Blair Oaks at Centralia starts at 1 p.m. Saturday - Gametime updates on Twitter: @tjrackers. Listen live online: kwos.com
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