WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons and Southern Boone Eagles took turns scoring in the first half of Friday night's game, with the teams generating points on eight of 12 possessions.
In the second half, the Falcons kept it up, while the Eagles fell off the pace.
Blair Oaks scored on four of five possessions in the second half - the Falcons' first four, with the fifth one coming to a halt because the game ended - while Southern Boone went 0-for-4, with those four often ending in troublesome fashion. It resulted in a 61-26 win for Blair Oaks at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"In the locker room at halftime, we were told to drive the field, score, then get a three-and-out and score again, and to keep doing that the whole second half," Blair Oaks quarterback Jordan Hair said. "And we ended up doing that."
Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker said his defense answered the bell in the second half.
"We felt we had moved the ball really well on offense, but we were maybe playing a little tentative on defense," he said. "And I don't know why, because (the Eagles) did not do anything we didn't expect them to do. We just challenged them to play Falcon Football in the second half defensively, and that's what they did."
The Falcons had won the opening coin toss and deferred, and it played right into their hands. Clinging to a 30-26 lead after a wild first half, Blair Oaks took the opening kickoff and delivered a statement drive.
The Falcons went 65 yards in 11 plays - all of them rushes - and took 4:01 off the clock before scoring. Hair ran the ball in from 7 yards out on a busted play that showed off his skills of improvisation.
Two plays later, Southern Boone lost a fumble and Blair Oaks' Riley Boeckman recovered it at the Eagles' 32-yard line.
The Falcons stumbled a bit, but came up big on fourth-and-8 when Hair hit C.J. Closser for a 15-yard gain. Two plays later, Cody Alexander found the end zone on an 8-yard run and the lead was 20 points.
Both of those drives featured the Falcons utilizing an uptempo offense that wasted little time between plays.
"That's really the pace we practice at all week," Walker said. "We go fast in practice and we expect to go fast in the games. We expect to be in the best shape of the two teams out there on the field. The kids did exactly what we expected them to."
Southern Boone then went three-and-out, but that wasn't the worst part for the Eagles. A bad snap on an attempted punt resulted in a 10-yard loss, and Blair Oaks had the ball at the Southern Boone 24.
The Falcons scored five plays later, and Hair's ability to ad-lib came to the forefront once again. After fumbling the snap, the senior got a fortuitous bounce where it looked like he was dribbling a basketball, and he raced into the end zone from 9 yards out.
Hair said both of his third-quarter touchdown runs were simple decisions when things went a little haywire.
"It's almost like a moment of panic," he said with a smile. "Whenever I do that, I just pick the ball up and run. I don't mess around with it."
Southern Boone's next possession ended up in an interception by Blair Oaks' Adam Schell at the Falcons' 13.
Blair Oaks needed just seven plays to go those 87 yards - the big play was a 56-yard pass from Hair to Closser - and Alexander scored on an 8-yard run to close out the scoring.
"Southern Boone has got a great team," Walker said. "They've got some really nice, good-looking ballplayers who are going to keep improving. Whoever ends up playing them in districts is going to have their hands full."
Blair Oaks outgained Southern Boone 211-74 in the second half, including 114-12 in the decisive third quarter.
"We have got some great players, but what they need to understand is that in order to play great defense, you've got to play great team defense," Walker said. "So you've got to do your job, without question, without hesitation. The times we do that, we are a very good defense. There are other times when maybe we don't do that and we're not as good. We've got to be more consistent in that area."
The crazy first half featured five lead changes and a combined eight touchdowns, but only four successful conversions. Blair Oaks go touchdown runs from Brenden Brown, Hair and Alexander, plus a touchdown pass from Hair to Closser. Southern Boone got two touchdown runs apiece from Laron Wallace and Tanner Smith.
Not only did the Falcons get a win in their Homecoming game, but they improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Tri-County Conference. Hair said the Falcons are pleased to be undefeated at the halfway point of the season.
"It's amazing - it's something that we've wanted to do and dreamt about since we were little kids watching high-school games on Friday night here at the stadium," he said. "Our goal is to keep it going."
Blair Oaks will look to do that Friday when it plays at School of the Osage.
Southern Boone, which dropped to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference, will play Friday at suddenly surging California. The Pintos have won three straight after opening the season with a pair of losses, and they sit at 3-0 in league play.