KAHOKA, Mo. - The Clark County Indians had gone three straight games without allowing a point in district competition.
It took the Blair Oaks Falcons all of 92 seconds to score Saturday afternoon against the Indians in the Class 2 quarterfinals, and it didn't come close to stopping there.
For the seventh time in the past eight games, Blair Oaks surpassed 50 points. The Falcons won in a 55-6 rout to advance to the state semifinals for a second straight season.
"It was awesome," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. "We felt like with the one certain front, we could run the ball, and run it effectively.
"We had the first drive, drove right down and scored. The second drive bit us in the butt with the penalty. Then we turned it around the next several drives and just executed very well."
For the third straight game, Blair Oaks received the opening kick and scored. The Falcons capped a six-play, 72-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Nolan Hair to Ben Thomas. Marcus Edler made the extra point to put Blair Oaks ahead 7-0 with 10:28 left in the first quarter.
It's the seventh straight game Blair Oaks has scored a touchdown on its first offensive possession.
"We're playing with such confidence right now," LePage said. "They feel like they can score from anywhere on the field."
The game opened with a 15-yard pass to Edler. It was one of 17 plays Blair Oaks had for 10 or more yards Saturday.
"(Clark County) has seen a bunch of people play inside an 11-yard box the last couple weeks," LePage said. "They were really good at stuffing the run. I said, 'Hey, let's come out (with an) empty (backfield) and see how they adjust.'
"We just started with a simple play. It wasn't anything fancy, but we felt like we had them where they were a little off-balanced."
The Blair Oaks defense forced two straight three-and-outs to start the game. Meanwhile, the Falcons added to their lead with a pitch to Braydan Pritchett for a 52-yard touchdown run. That made the score 14-0 with 6:38 still to play in the opening quarter.
Pritchett added a 2-yard run for another touchdown later in the first quarter. He finished with 12 carries for 142 yards for Blair Oaks, and improved his average to 10.4 yards per carry.
"Early on in the season, we were trying to limit him because we knew, as the season wore on, we needed to use him," LePage said of Pritchett, who has 1,494 yards of total offense this season. "Today was a day, with the weather being the way it was, we were going to give Braydan every opportunity."
Not even a light snow for most of the game could slow down the Blair Oaks offense, which accumulated 499 total yards. The Falcons rushed for 318 yards on 39 carries.
"To rush for 300 yards on this team was extremely good by our offensive line and our running backs and our quarterback," LePage said.
Clark County's lone touchdown came early in the second quarter. Senior quarterback London Brunk finished a 12-play, 74-yard drive with a 3-yard keeper into the end zone. The 2-point conversion was no good, but the Indians trailed 20-6 with 10:57 left in the first half.
Blair Oaks would find the end zone three more times before halftime.
Riley Lentz ran in for a 4-yard score on the Falcons' next possession, then Hair threw two more touchdown passes to Thomas for 48 and 22 yards. Blair Oaks led 41-6 at halftime.
Hair finished the game 9-of-15 passing for 181 yards. His three touchdown passes give him 40 this season, and he still has yet to throw an interception.
Thomas was on the receiving end of all three touchdowns, giving him a total of 23 this year. He finished with six catches for 118 yards - his seventh 100-yard game in 2018 - and is 121 yards shy of breaking CJ Closser's school single-season record of 1,419 yards receiving set in 2015.
With a running clock in the second half, Blair Oaks found the end zone two more times. Hair had a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:37 left in the third, while Jake Closser scored his first career offensive touchdown with an 11-yard run with 5:40 remaining in the fourth.
Lentz finished with 12 carries for 69 yards, while Hair added 68 yards rushing on eight attempts.
Blair Oaks limited Clark County to 181 yards of total offense. Brunk finished with a team-high 60 yards rushing on 11 carries, while running back Caleb Lapsley had 15 rushes for 50 yards.
Brunk completed just 4-of-16 passes for 30 yards. The Falcons recorded a pair of second-half interceptions, one each by Carson Prenger and Cobi Marble.
"We felt very good about our defense coming in," LePage said. "We felt like we had some great keys on them. Overall, we performed very well."
Clark County, ranked No. 8 in Class 2, finishes at 10-3.
Blair Oaks (13-0), the No. 1 team in Class 2, hosts Lutheran North (10-3) in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Falcon Athletic Complex. The Crusaders, ranked No. 4, are riding a 10-game winning streak following Friday's 51-8 quarterfinal win at Caruthersville.
"I know they're big, fast and strong," LePage said. "They've got a lot of Division I recruits, they've played a very great schedule.
"But like I told our players, there ain't no backing off this team and there ain't no backing off Blair Oaks. We're going to go into this one with a full head of steam."
In Saturday's other quarterfinal action, No. 2 Lamar defeated No. 9 Ava 35-30, while No. 3 Lathrop routed Summit Christian Academy 41-14. Lathrop (13-0) will host Lamar (12-1) next Saturday in the other state semifinal contest.