WARDSVILLE - Simply put, the Blair Oaks Falcons couldn't be stopped in the first half during district play.
The Falcons scored six touchdowns on six possessions before halftime Friday night, propelling them to a 49-2 win against South Callaway in the Class 2 District 5 championship game at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
In 21 first-half possessions in three district games, the Blair Oaks offense amassed the maximum damage of 21 touchdowns.
No turnovers. No punts. Not even field goals. Just touchdowns.
"That's pretty efficient," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. "That's a group of young men and a group of coaches that are working together very well, and executing at a very high level.
"I don't know if I've ever been a part of something like that."
In district play, Blair Oaks outscored its opponents 189-8, only allowing points in the fourth quarter.
"You have to look at all three aspects: the offensive line, the receivers and the backs," LePage said. "When they all come together, they're all selfless. That's a word that's probably thrown around too much, but it doesn't seem like anybody ever worries about doing anything but what's best for each other."
Quarterback Nolan Hair's 2-yard touchdown run capped a seven-play, 63-yard opening drive, giving Blair Oaks a 6-0 lead just 1:40 into the game. The Falcons have scored on the first offensive possession in nine of their 12 games.
"I think it's huge we're scoring on the first drive," LePage said. "We know that's not always going to happen, but we're going to keep trying to do it."
Braydan Pritchett accounted for the Falcons' next two touchdowns. After scoring on a 1-yard run, Pritchett raced to the left sideline and broke a tackle at the South Callaway 15-yard line. He broke another at the 10, and then a third tackle at the 5 as he cut back in to score on a 38-yard run.
That touchdown extended the Blair Oaks lead to 21-0 with 1:10 left in the first quarter.
"When he touches it, when he gets around a corner, when he gets a head of steam going, he is awful hard to tackle," LePage said of Pritchett, who is averaging 10.4 yards per carry.
Hair attempted 23 passes Friday, his most in a single game since throwing the ball 30 times in the season opener against Maryville. He completed 16 of those passes for 230 yards and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Ben Thomas early in the second quarter.
"They were playing man-to-man on their corners," LePage said. "We thought on the outside we were better. And they were stacking everybody just to stop the run. When we ran the football, there were six, seven, eight guys in the box."
The touchdown grab was the 20th of the season for Thomas, breaking the Blair Oaks single-season record he set last year.
Hair added runs of 6 and 3 yards for touchdowns in the final 4:02 of the first half to give Blair Oaks a 42-0 halftime lead.
"On a couple of our scores, all 11 guys were in the end zone," LePage said. "Coach (Lerone) Briggs makes it a point during the week that everybody needs to be in the end zone celebrating. When you score, it's a special time."
Riley Lentz scored the Falcons' final touchdown on a 4-yard run late in the third quarter for a 49-0 advantage.
The Blair Oaks defense did its part to benefit the offense.
The Falcons forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs four times, shortening the field for the offense. Three of those turnovers on downs occurred in the first half. Two came in Blair Oaks territory, both at the 39, and the third happened on the South Callaway 34.
"Our defense always does three-and-outs, so it probably makes their defense tired," Hair said. "Then we just drive all over them."
Late in the fourth quarter, South Callaway moved the ball inside the Blair Oaks 5-yard line, but the Falcons' second-string defense came up with a fourth-down stop at the 2-yard line.
On the fourth-down play, the entire Blair Oaks bench gathered between the 30- and 25-yard lines on the sideline, cheering on their teammates to come through with the stop.
"That was really neat," LePage said. "Most of the time when you take the ones out, they'll go sit on the bench. But this team is different. They're together all the time.
"That was one of the most fun times I've had in a while."
South Callaway scored its two points four plays later on a high snap that went through the back of the end zone on a punt attempt for a safety with 2:52 to play.
Still, it was the first game all season South Callaway (10-2) went without scoring a touchdown.
"Everybody's working hard and showing up to practice every day," Blair Oaks junior linebacker Sam Luebbering said. "They're just giving it their full effort every day, giving 100 percent."
Top-ranked Blair Oaks (12-0), which has won four straight district titles, will go on the road Saturday and face No. 8 Clark County (10-2). The Indians won the District 6 championship Friday, beating No. 6 Monroe City 20-0.
Kickoff for the Class 2 quarterfinal matchup is at 1 p.m. in Kahoka.
"I know that they're a really great football team with a really great program that's won a state title," LePage said. "They got beat earlier (in the regular season) by Monroe City and turned around and shut them out, so that tells me something, that they've got some intestinal fortitude."
Other Class 2 quarterfinal games next weekend include: Caruthersville (10-2) at No. 4 Lutheran North (9-3); No. 9 Ava (11-1) at No. 2 Lamar (11-1); and Summit Christian (10-2) at No. 3 Lathrop (12-0).
The winner of the Blair Oaks-Clark County game will face the winner of the Caruthersville-Lutheran North game in the semifinals.