WARDSVILLE - It was a Homecoming shutout for the Blair Oaks Falcons.
In Friday night's meeting of two state-ranked Class 3 programs, No. 1 Blair Oaks moved closer to a fifth straight Tri-County Conference title with a commanding 40-0 win against the No. 8 Southern Boone Eagles at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"I was really impressed with our defensive effort," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. "We knew this was probably one of the best teams in the conference, especially with their balance, the way their running back ran, the way their quarterback can throw, the way their receivers can catch."
Southern Boone's offense didn't get much against Blair Oaks. The Eagles gained a net of 1 yard on 26 rushing attempts - 13 of those went for a loss - and finished the game with 88 yards of total offense.
"I thought our players did a great job," LePage said.
Southern Boone received the opening kick and turned the ball over on downs on its own 18-yard line. Tyson Smith, both the quarterback and punter for the Eagles, was standing just eight yards behind the line of scrimmage on the snap and was brought down before he could get the ball away.
"In high school football, you get the momentum early in a big game like this, that's something that's hard to recover from," LePage said.
Blair Oaks took advantage of the short field and Riley Lentz scored on a 3-yard run with 7:19 left in the first quarter. Zach Herigon added the extra point to make the score 7-0.
The Falcons scored on their next two possessions, as Dylan Hair completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Carson Prenger and Cade Stockman came in at running back to score on a 3-yard touchdown. Blair Oaks led 21-0 with :53.6 to go in the opening quarter.
Lentz added a 2-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter to give Blair Oaks a 28-0 lead going into halftime.
Blair Oaks failed to score on its first two possessions of the second half, but Lentz came through with his third score of the night on a 10-yard run. Herigon missed the extra point, snapping a streak of 22 made PATs, and the score stayed at 34-0 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
On their next possession, the Falcons had an eight-play drive end with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hair to Cobi Marble with 6:29 to play in the fourth, triggering the running clock for a fourth consecutive game.
Blair Oaks had 302 yards of offense, including 152 yards rushing. Lentz led the way with 17 carries for 99 yards, while Hair added six carries for 29 yards.
Hair also completed 12-of-16 passes for 150 yards. Prenger was his leading receiver with six catches for 78 yards.
"The only thing I told the team after the game is we didn't play clean," LePage said, as Blair Oaks finished the game with six penalties for 50 yards. "There were just too many ticky-tack penalties that we can control on the offensive side of the ball."
Southern Boone (5-2) was held to six first downs for the game.
Smith was 16-of-23 passing for 87 yards. Nik Post caught eight of those passes for 38 yards.
Tristan John, who entered the game averaging 11.5 yards per carry, finished with just 27 yards on 11 rushing attempts.
The only two takeaways of the game came on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter. Southern Boone's Ben Brookshire intercepted a pass from Hair and took it 43 yards to the end zone, but the touchdown was negated by a block in the back penalty during the return. Six plays later, Jake Closser intercepted a pass from Smith and returned it 64 yards to the Southern Boone 15-yard line, setting up Lentz's third touchdown run.
Blair Oaks (7-0) plays its final road game of the regular season next Friday at School of the Osage (2-5). Versailles won its first game of the season Friday, beating the Indians 34-13.
"This week, we really noticed a change in the players," LePage said. "I think they smell the playoffs coming. There's definitely a different feel to our team."