WARDSVILLE - The Blair Oaks Falcons exploded for 50 points in the second half and rallied for a 62-47 win against the Eldon Mustangs on Friday night.
In a game that featured a whopping 137 offense plays resulting in 1,045 combined yards, things actually got off to a slow start at the Falcon Athletic Complex. The only score in the first quarter belonged to Eldon, and that came with :30.7 left when Nick Hendrix hit Levi Shinn with a 34-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0.
Things started to heat up in the second quarter, with each team scoring a pair of touchdowns.
A 4-yard run by Shinn gave Eldon a 14-0 lead at the 8:53 mark, before Blair Oaks got its first score on a 5-yard pass from Jordan Hair to Cody Alexander that made it 14-6 with 6:56 left before halftime.
It was the beginning of a monster night for both Hair and Alexander.
Hair ended up with a combined 434 yards of offense, as he had team-high 182 yards rushing on 18 carries and he also completed 18-of-31 passes for 252 yards.
Alexander, meanwhile, had one of the oddest statistical lines you'll ever see. He accounted for just 22 yards of offense, but thanks to several short-yardage scores and 2-point conversions, he ended up scoring 36 points.
Eldon got its second 34-yard scoring pass of the first half - this from Hendrix to Whittle - with 4:45 left before intermission to make it 21-6.
The Falcons got within 21-12 when Alexander scored from 1 yard out with 29 seconds left before halftime.
Things then got nuts after the break, as the teams combined for five touchdowns in the third quarter and took it to the next level with six fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Blair Oaks got three of those scores in the third quarter as the lead changed hands four times. The touchdowns came on a 28-yard pass from Hair to Alexander at the 9:12 mark, a 4-yard run by Alexander with 5:10 remaining and a 76-yard run by Hair with :48.2 left.
Eldon, meanwhile, took a 35-32 lead to the final period thanks to scoring runs of 5 and 43 yards by Trenton Kidwell. Both came in the final 68 seconds of the third, the first with 1:08 left and the second as time expired.
Blair Oaks piled on four more scores in the fourth quarter, taking the lead for good at 40-35 with the first of them, as Adam Schell caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hair with 9:21 left. That came after Blair Oaks recovered a muffed punt by Eldon to keep a stalled drive alive.
Then after the Mustangs lost a fumble, the Falcons got a 1-yard touchdown run by Alexander with 5:47 left to make it 46-35. Alexander added another touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Hair to make it 54-35 with 3:34 left.
Eldon scored just 31 seconds later on a 3-yard run by Kidwell to cut the lead to 54-41.
Blair Oaks' final score came on a 6-yard run by Hair with 2:20 left and Eldon's Isaiah Meridah closed out the scoring on a 2-yard run with :28.6 remaining.
Eldon (1-2, 0-1 Tri-County Conference) ended up with 539 yards of offense, running 59 times for 421 yards and completing 5-of-7 passes for 118 yards. Kidwell had a game-high 190 yards rushing on 25 carries and Shinn had 23 carries for 180 yards.
Blair Oaks (3-0, 1-0) ended up with 506 yards of offense. In addition to Hair's 252 yards passing, the Falcons ran the ball 40 times for 254 yards.
Both teams return to action Friday, with Blair Oaks at Hallsville and Eldon hosting California.