KAHOKA, Mo. - Blair Oaks senior Ben Thomas had a few extra fans in the stands for Saturday's Class 2 quarterfinal game against the Clark County Indians.
Thomas grew up in Memphis, Mo., located 25 miles west of Kahoka, until he and his family moved to the Blair Oaks school district when he was 8 years old. His grandparents, aunts and uncles, who still live in the Scotland County area, were able to get a chance to watch Thomas and the Falcons play in their 55-6 win against Clark County.
"I had the majority of my family at this game," Thomas said. "That was really fun. I appreciate them coming out and having their support.
"Even though it's just down the road, it means a lot to me knowing that most of my family was there."
In the midst of a record-setting season, Thomas caught six passes for 118 yards and scored three touchdowns in the win.
"I don't really know what's going to happen when I go into the game," Thomas said, "but it feels good for me."
Saturday was one of the rare times Blair Oaks had the opportunity to play in northeast Missouri during Thomas' four-year career. The Falcons opened last season with a 34-19 win at Kirksville, and Thomas finished that game with four catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
While teammate Nolan Hair has been knocking one school record after another this season, Thomas has been busy establishing himself as one of the best wide receivers in Class 2.
Through 13 games, Thomas has accumulated 51 receptions for 1,299 yards and 23 touchdowns. Last year, Thomas broke the school record with 19 touchdown grabs, and he now has 50 for his career. In three seasons, he has 2,982 yards receiving on 159 catches.
As Blair Oaks (13-0) gets set to host Lutheran North (10-3) in Saturday's semifinal, Thomas needs 121 yards receiving to break the school single-season record of 1,419 yards receiving, set by CJ Closser in 2015.
Thomas caught a 15-yard pass for a touchdown on Blair Oaks' first possession of the game to make the score 7-0 just 92 seconds into the contest. He added touchdown receptions of 48 and 22 yards in the second quarter, helping the Falcons build a 41-6 halftime lead.
"On the very first one we had another play called, and Nolan came up to the line and I started screaming, 'There's nobody covering him.'" Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said of Thomas' first touchdown catch. "He saw it, recognized it and changed the play, and Ben just ran a simple go route on the inside."
Not even the snow could slow down a Blair Oaks offense that produced 499 total yards.
"We had a really good week of preparation because it snowed during the week," Thomas said. "We got to use that in practice to prepare for today's game."
Clark County's defense entered the game with three straight shutout performances. A team that held opponents to 11.3 points per game gave up 20 or more points for just the third time this season.
Blair Oaks' defense, meanwhile, held an opponent to single digits for the 10th time in 13 tries. The Falcons lowered their average to 8.2 points allowed.
"Our defense doesn't really get the props it should be getting," Thomas said.
The Falcons limited Clark County (10-3) to 181 yards of offense. The Indians rushed for 315 yards in the district championship game against Monroe City, but the managed just 151 yards on the ground against the Falcons.
"With our front seven only playing one way, the defensive coaches are able to come off, look at it on film and are able to turn it around and make adjustments," LePage said. "We made the adjustments and stopped what they were doing. Unfortunately for them, with as many guys as they have going both ways, they weren't able to make in-game adjustments like that."
Blair Oaks has also been keeping an eye on an opponent from earlier this season. Maryville knocked off No. 1 Odessa 29-6 on Saturday in the Class 3 quarterfinals.
"We want (Blair Oaks) to go win state in Class 2 and they want us to go win state in Class 3," Maryville running back Eli Dowis told the Maryville Daily Forum last week. "It would be cool to say that we both won after the two games that we played against each other."
Since losing 38-35 to the Falcons in the season opener, the Spoofhounds have won 12 straight games and face Trinity in Saturday's semifinal.
"A couple of the guys on our team and a couple of guys on their team have been pretty good friends, even before we lost to them last year," Thomas said. "It was fun playing against them this year.
"Two Class 2/Class 3 powerhouses were going at it in the beginning of the year, and if they both come out on top in the end of the year, that would be really cool."
For the third time in four seasons, the Falcons have reached the state semifinals. Blair Oaks will host a Lutheran North team that has not lost a game this season to an opponent from Missouri after starting the year 0-3.
"I don't really have words to describe getting back to this point," Thomas said. "Everybody on the team has been working incredibly hard. The seniors have been pushing everybody on the team to get back to this spot. It's such a good feeling to get back."
Kickoff for Saturday's game is 1 p.m. at the Falcon Athletic Complex.