Blair Oaks to host Maryville for berth in Class 3 title game

Justin Cobb of Blair Oaks trips up McCluer South-Berkeley Bulldog quarterback Tavian Willis during last Saturday afternoon's Class 3 quarterfinal game in St. Louis.
Justin Cobb of Blair Oaks trips up McCluer South-Berkeley Bulldog quarterback Tavian Willis during last Saturday afternoon's Class 3 quarterfinal game in St. Louis.

WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons need just one more win to reach the program's first Class 3 state championship game appearance.

To get there, the Falcons will have to get past one of the most prominent Class 3 programs during the past decade.

Second-ranked Blair Oaks will host the seventh-ranked Maryville Spoofhounds in the state quarterfinals today at the Falcon Athletic Complex. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

"Anyone who knows anything about football is certainly familiar with the Maryville name," Blair Oaks coach Terry Walker said. "They've been a staple in Class 3 for the last several years. We're relatively new to Class 3, so we know what kind of tradition and culture they have established up there."

Blair Oaks (13-0) advanced to the semifinals with a 32-16 win last Saturday at top-ranked McCluer South-Berkeley, avenging last year's quarterfinal loss to the Bulldogs.

"Our ability to consistently move the football was a positive," Walker said of the win. "We demonstrated the ability to move the football last year between the 20s versus Berkeley, but we had not really been able to finish drives.

"Defensively, I thought we did a good job of eliminating big plays. When you play a team like Berkeley who has multiple guys who can put the football in their hands and take it the distance, to be able to escape the game with no big plays to speak of, your defense is doing something right."

Maryville (11-2) also defeated a state-ranked opponent last Saturday to reach the semifinals, downing No. 8 Kansas City Center 19-13 for the team's 53rd consecutive home win.

The Spoofhounds have won the district title each season since the Missouri State High School Activities Association switched to the current playoff format in 2012. This year was the first time Maryville didn't receive the No. 1 seed in districts, but the Spoofhounds were able to avenge a regular-season loss by beating Chillicothe 20-12 in the title game.

"Just from watching them on film, they're as advertised," Walker said. "They're very physical, they're very fundamental, they understand who they are as a team, both offensively and defensively, and they play to those strengths. It's going to be a tough football game."

Fans will see a contrast of styles on offense today.

"It's going to be very interesting to see which style kind of rules the day," Walker said. "Our style is we want to go as fast as we can. We want to take advantage of our conditioning, we want to take advantage of our kids' ability to run and throw and operate in space.

"Maryville's style, just from watching on film, is it looks like they want to slow the pace of the game down, minimize your possessions. They want to shorten the game and keep the ball away from you."

Blair Oaks' hurry-up offense has helped produce 43.8 points and 406.3 yards of offense per game. Against McCluer South-Berkeley, the Falcons advanced the ball 63 yards in just 63 seconds on seven plays to take the lead for good shortly before halftime.

Maryville's wing-T offense tends to drag out time on the clock. In last week's game against Center, the Spoofhounds had three possessions that each lasted six minutes or longer.

"It's very similar to what Eldon does out of the wing-T," Walker said. "We've seen them in some double tight (end), we've seen them in some ace formations (double tight end, double flanker). We've seen them in some double wing with a single back.

"They want to run the football."

Leading the Maryville rushing attack is junior Eli Dowis (6-foot-3, 175 pounds), who averages 99.9 yards on the ground per game. He finished with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown against Center.

Junior Tyler Houchin (6-0, 205) has a team-high 1,148 yards rushing this season and 12 touchdowns, while senior Brady Atwell (6-2, 165) had a team-high 119 yards rushing last Saturday.

"They spread the football around," Walker said. "If they have success with a play, they're going to come right back to it."

Senior quarterback Will Walker (6-0, 165) has 854 yards passing and 10 touchdowns this season. He has thrown for at least 100 yards in Maryville's past two games.

Maryville's line is led by senior Jalen Sundell (6-6, 230), who was first team all-state last season.

"They want to line up and come right at you," Walker said, resembling Maryville's line play to that of Oak Grove. "They want to challenge your willingness to get in a fight in the phone booth, and they attack you."

The Spoofhounds' 4-3 defense is led by sophomore Tate Oglesby (6-2, 170), a defensive back with six interceptions, and senior Jacob Reuter (6-0, 205), a returning all-state linebacker.

"They'll peel kids in and out of the box, depending upon how many receivers you're displacing," Walker said.

Maryville's defense is allowing 13.2 points per game, but the Spoofhounds have been outscored 66-6 in their two losses.

Last week, Blair Oaks scored 32 points against a McCluer South-Berkeley team that allowed 55 points total in its first 10 games. The Falcons hope their spread offense gives fits to the defensive-minded Spoofhounds as well.

"We haven't seen them play against a bunch of spread teams," Walker said. "A lot of teams (in northwest Missouri) have a similar style of play.

"It'll be interesting to see how they choose to adjust to some of our different sets."

III

Blair Oaks and Maryville will meet again on the football field for at least the next two seasons. Blair Oaks athletic director Corey Felten confirmed the Falcons and the Spoofhounds will play each other in the 2018 and 2019 season openers. Dates, game times and locations are still to be determined. Maryville will replace Kirksville as Blair Oaks' Week 1 opponent on the schedule. The Spoofhound mascot is based on a compilation of mascot dogs for various World War I units. The nickname stuck with Maryville starting in the 1923 season when its football coach said his players "looked like a bunch of Spoofhounds" because they are "scrapping all the time." Today's other Class 3 semifinal game, Lutheran South (9-3) at Mount Vernon (9-4), will also kick off at 1 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet for the Class 3 state championship at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 25, at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Related media:

Blair Oaks Falcons Football Podcast [Maryville preview, Nov. 18, 2017]