CALIFORNIA, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons took care of business Friday night, just as they have every week this season.
Blair Oaks wrapped up its fourth straight undefeated regular season with a 65-7 win against the California Pintos at Riley Field. The win gave the Falcons a 7-0 record in Tri-County Conference play and extended their regular-season win streak to 38 games.
"I'm proud of them for going 9-0," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said.
Blair Oaks scored on its first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Nolan Hair connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Edler just nine seconds into the game. Edler's extra-point attempt went off the left upright, giving the Falcons a 6-0 lead.
"That was a good call by (assistant) coach (Lerone) Briggs," LePage said. "We started the game off right, and once we got in the end zone, it seemed like we rolled after that."
The touchdown pass was the 89th of Hair's career, breaking the school record previously held by his older brother, Jordan Hair.
"Boy, what an accomplishment," LePage said.
The Falcons scored on their next possession with a 2-yard touchdown run by Riley Lentz. Edler made the extra point - and the next seven that followed - to make the score 13-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Blair Oaks punted the next time it had the ball, but that only set up a defensive score for the Falcons. Ben Thomas intercepted a pass from California's Hunter Oliver and returned it 28 yards untouched into the end zone. It was Thomas' third interception this season.
On the Pintos' next possession, Kamron Morriss intercepted another pass, which set up a 10-yard touchdown pass to Thomas. Blair Oaks led 27-0 with 2:14 to go in the first quarter.
Lentz had a 33-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass to open the second quarter and Braydan Pritchett had a 16-yard touchdown run up the middle with 8:07 left in the first half for the Falcons.
Thomas finished with two catches in the game, but both went for touchdowns. His second catch went for a 34-yard score with 2:45 left in the half, extending the Blair Oaks lead to 48-0 at intermission.
"The players never wavered," LePage said. "There were a lot of things we could have done all night, but once we got the game under control, we needed to start working on some things that we need to see on film."
California's lone score came on the first play of the second half. Alex Meisenheimer returned the kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown. Clayton Winkler's extra-point try bounced off the crossbar and through, cutting the Blair Oaks lead to 48-7.
It's the second straight week Meisenheimer has returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Hair had a 19-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession. He finished the game 10-of-12 passing for 241 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 46 yards on eight carries.
Edler made an 18-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and the second-string offense finished the game with a touchdown. Jayden Purdy got his first career rushing touchdown on a 25-yard carry with 3:39 to play.
Blair Oaks finished with 403 yards of total offense. Cobi Marble caught three passes for 52 yards and Pritchett added three catches for 47 yards. Pritchett also had 37 yards rushing and Lentz added 43 yards rushing on 15 carries.
The Blair Oaks defense held California's offense out of the end zone for a second straight season. The Pintos finished with 49 yards of offense, including 6 net yards rushing.
For the second time in four years, the Falcons will play the same opponent in back-to-back weeks as the district playoffs begin next Friday.
Blair Oaks (9-0), ranked No. 2 in Class 2, finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in Class 2 District 5. The Falcons will host eighth-seeded Claifornia at 7 p.m. next Friday at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"It's about us getting better, and that starts tomorrow in the film room," LePage said. " Every opportunity now is not a given one, it's an earned one. So let's go earn another one."