WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Watching game film of their regular-season matchup against the Southern Boone Eagles may not do much good for the Blair Oaks Falcons.
When the two teams met Sept. 23 in a 42-13 Blair Oaks victory, Southern Boone was forced to throw the ball against the Falcons. However, the Eagles have found success on the ground lately.
Southern Boone gained 393 yards rushing last Friday night in a 56-35 win against O'Fallon Christian to advance to tonight's Class 3 District 6 championship against Blair Oaks. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"Their quarterback can certainly throw the ball, but I don't think that's what they want to do," Blair Oaks coach Terry Walker said. "They want to try to control the game with their running game, and then throw off of their run."
Junior running back Jackson Sartain led the Eagles with 140 yards rushing and a touchdown against O'Fallon Christian. Senior Tanner Smith scored three rushing touchdowns and junior Cooper Mange and senior Kolton Schupp each had one rushing score.
When Southern Boone faced Blair Oaks earlier this season, the Eagles gained just 18 yards rushing on 26 carries. Smith had a team-high 30 yards rushing.
"We were able to control their running game a little bit and they had success throwing the football," Walker said of the regular-season meeting. "This time, we expect that they're going to try and run the football.
"We also expect they're going to try to throw the football, so we need to be prepared to handle both."
Southern Boone (9-2) started the year as a pass-heavy offense, led by senior quarterback Spencer Taggart, who has passed for more than 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Sam Stichnote has been his top target, gaining more than 600 yards receiving.
Since its loss to Blair Oaks, Southern Boone has won five games in a row, averaging 50.2 points per game during that span.
Walker said the Eagles have continued to spread things out offensively, but they've made some adjustments since the last time these two teams played. Southern Boone has used a two-back set, but the Eagles have been running quite a bit when a player goes into motion.
"They're running a little bit more jet, they're running some jet counter off their jet action," Walker said. "That's opened some things up for them. They've been rotating three or four backs in the backfield the entire time, and the kids have gotten more comfortable with what they're doing.
"We're prepared to line up against anything that they may come out in, because we've seen a bunch of different sets to this point in the season."
As always, Walker added second-ranked Blair Oaks (10-0) wants to stop the run game, forcing Southern Boone to be one-dimensional with its passing game. The Falcons have allowed just 61.0 yards rushing per game.
"I don't know if we can completely stop their running game, but we want to try and control it and make them somewhat predictable," Walker said.
Blair Oaks struggled to throw the ball against Southern Boone, tossing three interceptions. This season, Stichnote leads Southern Boone with eight interceptions and Schupp also has six picks.
The run game, though, took care of business. The Falcons blasted the Eagles for 347 yards rushing, averaging 8.9 yards a carry. Jake Van Ronzelen had a season-best 236 yards in that game and improved his season total to 1,383 yards rushing after gaining 189 yards in Blair Oaks' 42-6 win last Friday night against Fulton.
Blair Oaks quarterback Nolan Hair surpassed the 2,000-yard passing mark against the Hornets. His top three targets - Cody Alexander, Braydan Pritchett and Ben Thomas - each have at least 500 yards receiving.
"We're trying to put kids in a position so when they have an opportunity to get the ball in their hands, they are in a position to make a play," Walker said.
III
Notes: The Blair Oaks-Southern Boone winner will face the winner of the District 5 championship game between fifth-ranked McCluer South-Berkeley (10-0) and St. Charles West (7-4), which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. With a win tonight, Blair Oaks will either host McCluer South-Berkeley or play at St. Charles West next Saturday in the Class 3 quarterfinals. The Falcons are looking for their fourth district title in five years. Blair Oaks won titles against South Callaway in 2012 and 2013 and topped Fulton in last year's district championship game.
Blair Oaks hosts Southern Boone
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