WRIGHT CITY, Mo. - Adam Reno electrified the North Callaway Thunderbirds' offense and short-circuited Wright City's defense.
North Callaway's junior running back was responsible for 218 yards of total offense and three touchdowns Friday night as the Thunderbirds sailed to their second straight victory by trampling the Wright City Wildcats in a 46-7 Eastern Missouri Conference blitz.
After a scoreless first quarter, North Callaway took command by erupting for 26 points in the second quarter. The Thunderbirds - who had lost two in a row to Wright City - extended their season record to 4-2 and improved to 3-1 in the EMO.
"It's a good conference win, but we have to get started earlier - both at the start of the game and the third quarter," North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal said afterward.
The Thunderbirds already owned a 20-0 advantage when Reno supplied his first score at the end of the first half when he grabbed a 9-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Milo Henry with 2 seconds left. Reno then showed off his speed by scoring on runs of 57 and 78 yards in the last 4 minutes of the third quarter as North Callaway opened up an imposing 40-7 lead.
Reno gained a game-high 170 yards on just four carries and added three catches for 48 yards as the Thunderbirds piled up 410 yards of total offense, including 187 yards rushing. Senior running back Wyatt Branson paced North Callaway with three receptions for 80 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown strike from Henry with 10 minutes, 4 seconds to play in the second quarter for the Thunderbirds' first score.
Branson then scored on an 8-yard run at the 7:55 mark and Henry followed with a 6-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Austin Edwards to make it 20-0 with 5:24 remaining in the half.
Henry completed just 9-of-20 passes for 223 yards and was intercepted twice.
North Callaway closed out its scoring on freshman backup quarterback Tully Thomsen's 3-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Dawson Wright with 9:47 to go in the game.
The lone score for Wright City (1-5, 1-3) came on junior quarterback Sean McDonald's 4-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. The Thunderbirds' defense forced six turnovers by the Wildcats, who finished with 224 yards of total offense.
Wright, from his cornerback spot, had two of North Callaway's three interceptions.
The Thunderbirds are back home this week for an EMO matchup against Van-Far/Community R-6 (2-4, 0-4). The Indians were blanked at home by conference foe Clopton/Elsberry 46-0 on Friday night.