WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons are excited to play this week.
It doesn't have anything to do with their 9-0 start to the season or their No. 2 ranking in Class 3 in the Missouri Media Rankings. They're just happy to be playing in Week 10 this year, something they didn't get a chance to do last season.
After securing the top seed in Class 3 District 6, the Falcons host eighth-seeded Missouri Military Academy to open postseason play at 7 p.m. tonight at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
The Colonels were assigned to the same district as Blair Oaks prior to the 2016 season, but they backed out of their district commitment just before the season began. That left District 6 with just seven teams, meaning the top-seeded Falcons received a first-round bye.
MMA (1-8) rejoined the district this season, which allows Blair Oaks a Week 10 contest this weekend.
"We definitely wanted to play," Blair Oaks coach Terry Walker said. "It's important for the kids this time of year to maintain their routine.
"Our preparation doesn't change any, regardless of who we're playing, and it makes it nicer as far as a weekly flow goes because kids do well with a routine. We're excited we have a game this week."
The Colonels didn't win their first game until Week 8, a 48-6 decision against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy out of Rockford, Ill.Last Friday, MMA fell 28-21 to the Central Homeschool Panthers on Senior Night in Mexico.
Getting a look at the Colonels hasn't been easy for the Falcons. MMA only played three teams from the Mid-Missouri area: Van-Far, Slater and Harrisburg.
"Since we don't have a real good feel for what they've done the entire season, like we do some of the local teams here in the area, really all we have to go off of is the last couple of game films," Walker said. "We have an idea of what we think they're going to do. We've seen them make a couple of adjustments, but it's hard to tell because it's such a small set of plays we're looking at."
The Colonels are scoring an average of 14.4 points per game, with nearly half their season's points coming in the past two games.
MMA is led by senior quarterback Pedro da Rocha, who had a passing touchdown and two rushing scores last Friday. In the Colonels' only win the week prior, da Rocha threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 135 yards and another score.
"He's a big difference-maker," Walker said. "When the ball is in his hands, he's a threat to run it or throw it, and can score a touchdown on any given play. We've got to do a great job of containing him when he's dropping back to pass and making sure that we're staying in our rush lanes."
Walker said the Colonels have run some of their offense with empty backfields and three receivers lined up on one side of the field. However, they have often lined up in a unique look, representing a diamond formation in the backfield.
"Their base set is something we're calling an inverted wishbone, in the sense that they have a quarterback at shotgun and then two gun backs and a pistol back. They have four guys in the backfield," Walker said. "Then they do a series of options and counters and zone plays off that formation."
MMA wide receiver Styles Fountain, a Mexico native, along with running backs Matt Thibodeaux and Forrest Drummond, have heavily factored in the Colonels' offense the past two weeks.
Defensively, MMA is led by end Copeland Grahmann, who is among the team leaders with 52 total tackles and three tackles for loss. Thomas Huckins, who plays the other end position, has a team-high 58 tackles.
"(Grahmann) appears to be the best defender from the film we've seen," Walker said. "He's definitely got a good motor, he's a tough-looking kid. He enjoys the contact and he's definitely a player we're going to have to look out for."
The Colonels' defense may have to make an adjustment against a Blair Oaks team that passed for 401 yards in the first half of last Friday's 64-6 win at Warsaw.
"It's kind of interesting, we've seen them in a six-man front," Walker said. "We haven't seen them with a whole lot of two-safety looks versus teams that throw the ball.
"We're not quite sure how they're going to line up against some of our spread sets, so that'll be part of the feeling-out process the first two or three series."
The Colonels allowed 37.9 points per game during the regular season. Each team scored at least 35 points against MMA during its first seven games.
"If they've struggled, it's been in the area of consistency," Walker said. "Some of those kids are coming in from outside the area, so it's hard to get all those kids functioning as a single unit in a short period of time like a football season."
Blair Oaks' offense shined in Nolan Hair's return at quarterback. Five different Falcons had at least 50 yards receiving against Warsaw and combined to score six touchdowns through the air.
"We had hoped for that opportunity all year long," Walker said. "Cade (Stockman) did a great job when he was in there, but we also limited some things for Cade, as far as his reads and progressions go. Nolan has two years of experience on him, so he's used to making reads a little bit faster and can anticipate what the defense is going to do a little bit quicker. You saw an example of that this past Friday night when Nolan was able to get the ball in a bunch of different receivers' hands.
"There are typically one or two cover guys, and then the other guys are probably not quite as strong at covering. We know we have four or five guys that can catch the football. Give them enough time and protection, we can generate a mismatch and give our guys an opportunity to make a play."
The winner of Friday's game will play either No. 4 Wright City (5-4) or No. 5 Winfield (4-5) next Friday in the district semifinals.
III
On the other side of the District 6 bracket, No. 2 Mexico (6-3) hosts No. 7 O'Fallon Christian (2-7), while No. 3 Southern Boone (6-3) hosts No. 6 Fulton (3-6) tonight in the first round. Blair Oaks has dominated the turnover battle the past two weeks, forcing nine takeaways while committing just two turnovers. Through seven weeks, the Falcons were minus-1 in turnover margin, but they enter tonight's game at plus-6. "It's been fantastic," Walker said. "Anytime you can get some short fields and get yourself some extra possessions, certainly that's going to help you offensively."
Related media:
Blair Oaks Falcons Football Podcast [MMA preview, Oct. 20, 2017]