WARDSVILLE, Mo. - After the Blair Oaks Falcons and Eldon Mustangs hooked up in a wildly entertaining game back in Week 3, plenty of fans from both sides were hoping they'd see a rematch this season.
They'll get their wish tonight.
When the top-seeded Falcons and fifth-seeded Mustangs meet in the Class 3 District 6 semifinals, they'll do so with their last meeting fresh in everyone's minds. That's because the teams combined for 109 points, 137 offensive plays and 1,045 yards of offense in a back-and-forth affair that ended with Blair Oaks notching a 62-47 win.
Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker said he's not sure what tonight's game will hold, but he does know some things have changed since that first meeting back on Sept. 4.
"Eldon was our first game in which we went to our spread package on offense, and defensively we had not found our identity yet," he said. "I feel like we have an identity offensively now that is a little stronger than our first go-round with them, and defensively we have a better identity.
"Now, how that plays out (tonight) will be dictated by the players out on the field. But I feel like our kids have a better understanding of what we're trying do and I'm sure Eldon can say the same thing."
Eldon led after every quarter but the last one, holding leads of 7-0 after one, 21-12 at halftime and 35-32 after three. Among Blair Oaks' 50 second-half points were 30 unanswered to start the fourth quarter that allowed the Falcons to take control.
"I think Eldon is going to do what Eldon does, they're going to line up in their Wing-T and they've got a really strong offensive line and they're going to try to impose their will on our defense," Walker said. "Our job defensively is to hopefully improve upon our first performance against them. The kids have been focused on it and we feel like we have a good scheme against them, we just need to go out and execute it."
Helping that Wing-T attack chew up large chunks of grounds is the running-back tandem of Levi Shinn and Trenton Kidwell, with both rushing for more than 1,000 yards this season.
"Coach Jolley has done a really good job with the team - they execute the Wing-T just like it should be executed and they've got key players at key positions who really make the offense go," Walker said.
But the Mustangs also have the ability to score through the air.
"I think their offensive structure is such that they're going to put the ball in Shinn's hands and Kidwell's hands, but the one kid who was not a huge factor in the first game was the quarterback (Nick Hendrix)," Walker said. "You look at what he's done the last couple games and he's certainly put some numbers up running the football.
"And with the way they run their offense, their play-action is always a threat. They don't have what I would call a huge passing game, but they have an effective passing game.
"They threw two touchdown passes against us on fourth-and-11 and fourth-and-6. We knew they were going to throw the ball, but we couldn't stop it. So this is going to be one of those games where we're probably going to have a good idea of what they're going to do, it's just, can we stop it? That's kind of how the first game played out, and we were fortunate that our offense was operating at a high level of efficiency and we were able to score more points than them."
One thing that may make it tough for the Falcons to execute that efficiently this time is the status of Cody Alexander. The team's leading rusher and scorer injured his neck while making a tackle in last week's 70-0 rout of Versailles. He will be a game-time decision after undergoing an MRI on Wednesday.
"We certainly want him to play, but his health is more important than a football game, even if it is a playoff game," Walker said. "We'll make the best decision for Cody, and I'm sure Cody's parents and the doctors will do the same.
"If we have him, it will be great, but since he hasn't been full participation at practice, I wouldn't expect him to go out there and light it up. It's unfortunate, but injuries are part of the deal and you're lucky if you don't have them and you've got to figure out a way to work through them if you do."
Today's game kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"I'm sure it will be an exciting game," Walker said. "I know Eldon's been looking forward to it ever since the first meeting. I think they were wanting this game again and I think our kids are excited about the opportunity to play them again."
Notes: Eldon is one of two lower seeds in the district to win last week, as sixth-seeded Southern Boone is playing in the other semifinal tonight at second-seeded Fulton. "I think the teams in the district are all fairly evenly balanced," Walker said. "All the teams that are remaining are good teams, any one of those teams could win the district and I don't think anyone would raise their eyebrows and say, "That's a surprise.' We knew going in we would have a tough road and we played some real, real tough games the first six or seven games that were incredibly tough for our kids and we feel like that's made them tougher." ... The Mustangs are the only team to score against the Falcons in the third quarter this season, as Blair Oaks has a whopping 167-14 margin in that period. Add in a 105-31 edge in the fourth quarter and the Falcons hold a 272-45 advantage after halftime. ... Blair Oaks has not punted the past two weeks and has punted just three times in its last four games.
Eldon at Blair Oaks - Updates on Twitter: @tony_hawley and @EldonMustang. Listen live online: lakeradio.com
Related Podcast:
Football Districts Week 2 Preview: Blair Oaks vs. Eldon
See also:
Eldon looking to improve this time against Blair Oaks (from Mustang perspective)