WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Since the start of the Tri-County Conference schedule in Week 3, the season has gone in different directions for the Blair Oaks Falcons and the Hallsville Indians.
Blair Oaks (4-0) has continued its dominance, winning its first two conference games handily, including a 42-7 win last Friday night at Eldon. Hallsville (2-2), on the other hand, is struggling through the gauntlet of its schedule. After suffering a loss against School of the Osage, Hallsville fell 41-0 to the Southern Boone Eagles last Friday night.
When the Indians travel south tonight to face the Falcons, it'll be their third straight game against an unbeaten Tri-County squad, and this time, it will be Homecoming night for Blair Oaks. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"The thing that jumps out at me on film is that they have athletes," Blair Oaks coach Terry Walker said of Hallsville. "They've got some kids that can run, they've got some kids that can throw and certainly catch. They're probably not as big this year as they have been in past years, but that's not really tell-tale of anything.
"We're not real big either, but our kids go out there and compete."
In last week's loss against Southern Boone, Hallsville's offense managed just 6 yards of total offense and moved the chains only one time. The Eagles cruised to a 28-0 halftime lead and never relinquished the momentum.
"Osage and Southern Boone both had success against them, but those are two good football teams," Walker said. "That doesn't take anything away from Hallsville. They were able to execute and Hallsville wasn't.
"It looked to me like Southern Boone got off to a quick start and I think it just kind of snowballed on Hallsville."
Hallsville's offense will be led by sophomore quarterback Zane Parnell, who had just 26 yards passing last Friday. However, Parnell had strong performances in the first three games and has completed 42-of-101 passes for 579 yards and five touchdowns this season.
Parnell's top target has been sophomore wide receiver B.J. Fisher, who has eight catches for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Cole Hubbard, also a sophomore wide receiver, has nine catches for 98 yards.
The Indians have gained the bulk of their yards through the air, which will be a change of pace for the Blair Oaks defense as it prepares for tonight's game.
"We're definitely concerned about shifting gears between going against Oak Grove's power offense and then Eldon's wing-T," Walker said. "We've been fairly well-geared toward stopping the run. We will certainly have to shift gears this week and make sure that we're equally fundamentally sound against the pass.
"It takes 11 guys to play pass defense. If you get a good pass rush, then you know the quarterback's got to get rid of the ball probably before he wants to. As a defender in the secondary, you can certainly anticipate that."
The only setup Walker said he hasn't seen Hallsville line up on offense this season is a two-back set. The Indians tend to use a one-back set, but they have also gone with an empty backfield and spread the field. Walked said Hallsville will also line up in a bunch set periodically.
Although Blair Oaks has focused mostly on stopping the run this season, the defense has also done its job of stifling an opponent's passing game. Last week against Eldon, the Falcons only allowed one pass completion for 12 yards.
"I don't know how many pass yards we're going to give up this week, but I know that every week, we work pass cover and cover skills very, very, very hard," Walker said. "It's a perishable skill. It's not like you can focus on it a couple days and you've got it."
"We ask a lot out of our safeties, we ask a lot out of our corners and we play a lot of man coverage. We ask them to do it in a manner which allows them to be a defender all over the field, not just against their man."
Through four games, the Blair Oaks defense is allowing just 6.8 points per game, and three of the four touchdowns allowed came in Week 2 against Oak Grove.
"Last year, at this point of time in the year we averaging over 21 points per game that we were allowing, and I know we were also allowing quite a few big plays," Walker said. "I don't know exactly what our numbers are with the big plays, but I know we have cut them down from last year. If we make a team go 80 yards to score on us, I like our odds defensively."
Walker said Hallsville's defense goes with a three-man front, but sometimes the Indians shift to a 5-2 setup.
"We've also seen them do quite a bit of stunting and quite a bit of blitzing," Walker said.
The Blair Oaks offense continued to show improvement in the passing game last week. Playing without running back Jake Van Ronzelen, the Falcons had four touchdown passes, with two of those grabs going to Cody Alexander.
The Blair Oaks senior stepped up in Van Ronzelen's absence and had his best offensive game of the season, leading the Falcons with 54 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving on just four catches.
"I think we probably could have done a better job the first two games getting him the football and try and figure out ways to get him the ball," Walker said. "If we do get Jake back, then that makes us very dangerous, having three or four skill kids like that."
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Notes: Blair Oaks still holds a No. 2 ranking in Class 3 in this week's Missouri Media Rankings. The Falcons had two of the 14 first-place votes and still trail top-ranked Maryville. Van Ronzelen missed last Friday's game after suffering a concussion the week before while making a defensive play against Versailles. The Blair Oaks senior has undergone the concussion protocol and Walker said it will be a game-time decision on whether or not Van Ronzelen will play against Hallsville. "I would say there's better than a 50-50 chance Jake will play," Walker said.
Blair Oaks hosts Hallsville
Blair Oaks Falcons Football Podcast [Hallsville preview, Sept. 16, 2016]
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