WARDSVILLE, Mo. - In a game that boasted more than 800 yards of offense and lasted nearly three hours - even with a running clock for the last half of the final quarter - the Blair Oaks Falcons rolled to a 72-26 win against the Wright City Wildcats on Friday night.
The Falcons racked up 509 of those yards in the Class 3 District 6 semifinal, with quarterback Nolan Hair accounting for 426 of them. The junior completed 25-of-37 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns and carried the ball seven times for 57 yards that included three scoring runs of 1 yard each.
"That goes to the offensive coaching staff and the game plan they put together, then the kids did a great job of executing that," Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker said. "Having Nolan back (after missing the bulk of the regular season with a leg injury) is a nice comfort zone for us. He shows his experience from time to time with his reads and execution."
The Falcons never trailed in the contest, but they were pushed by the Wildcats at a few key points. Wright City answered Blair Oaks' first score with a touchdown of its own, and was within two scores late in the third quarter after back-to-back touchdowns.
But Blair Oaks got the final four touchdowns of the contest to pull away at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"It was nice to see us respond in the manner we did," Walker said.
The teams combined for five touchdowns in a wild first quarter. Blair Oaks got a 1-yard run and a 2-point conversion from Hair, only to see Wright City get a 69-yard pass from Sean McDonald to Cameron Cole. The 2-point run failed and Blair Oaks led 8-6.
The Falcons then got an 11-yard scoring pass from Hair to Ben Thomas and a 2-point run by Hair, then added a 1-yard run by Hair and a 2-point pass from Hair to Ethan Luebbering to make it 24-6.
Wright City once again had a big play in response, as McDonald hit Devon Holmes with a 43-yard scoring strike. But once again, the conversion failed, as a 2-point pass fell incomplete and it was 24-12 in favor of Blair Oaks.
"I was pleased with how we executed this evening with the exception of a couple different series on offense and we'll have to look at the tape on defense and go to work," Walker said.
Blair Oaks got two scores in the second quarter - a 12-yard run by Brayden Pritchett and a 25-yard pass from Hair to Marcus Edler - with Pritchett adding a 2-point run after each to lead 40-12 at halftime.
After Wright City got its two third-quarter scores - a 69-yard pass from McDonald to Jayden Mahaney and a 13-yard pass from McDonald to Holmes - the lead was down to 40-26. But Blair Oaks got a 32-yard hookup from Hair to Thomas and a 2-point pass from the duo to push the lead to 48-26.
Blair Oaks added three scores in the final period. Hair and Thomas connected on a 12-yard pass, then combined for the 2-point pass; Hair had a 1-yard run and threw a 2-point pass to Luebbering; and Carson Prenger returned an interception 35 yards that was followed by a 2-point run by Pritchett.
In addition to Hair's 369 yards passing, the Falcons had 140 yards on the ground on 25 carries. Pritchett led the way with 83 yards on 16 carries.
Wright City managed just 17 yards on the ground on 26 carries. McDonald completed 17-of-34 passes for 313 yards.
The win moves top-seeded Blair Oaks into Friday's district championship game at the Falcon Athletic Complex. The Falcons will meet second-seeeded Mexico, a 33-31 winner Friday against third-seeded Southern Boone.
"We're just happy to advance," Walker said. "I'm very proud of how the kids have played hard, we'll just have to continue to improve offensively and defensively and then we'll just see how we do next Friday night."