Blair Oaks rolls past Eldon for Tri-County win

The Blair Oaks Falcons line up against the Eldon Mustangs prior to a punt attempt during the second quarter of Friday night's game at Victor Field in Eldon. (Greg Jackson/News Tribune)
The Blair Oaks Falcons line up against the Eldon Mustangs prior to a punt attempt during the second quarter of Friday night's game at Victor Field in Eldon. (Greg Jackson/News Tribune)

ELDON -- The Blair Oaks offense shared the wealth Friday night.

Nine players scored a touchdown, Dylan Hair threw five touchdown passes and the Falcons cruised their way to a 76-22 win against the Eldon Mustangs at Victor Field.

“We came out and executed very well,” Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. “Our No. 1s went out and executed really well. We’ve been practicing at a high level, our intensity is getting better and better.”

The Falcons opened the game with a seven-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Brady Kerperin. Nolan Laughlin made the first of his 10 straight extra points to give Blair Oaks a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

Blair Oaks scored on each of its first seven offensive possessions, and the next four scores came courtesy of the passing game.

Following a recovered fumble by Carson Luebbering, Hair threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Zack Prenger.

Adam Hall -- the only Falcon with multiple touchdowns Friday -- caught the next two touchdown passes for 37 and 35 yards, pushing the score to 28-0 with 4:30 to go in the first quarter.

Alec Wieberg followed that with a 15-yard touchdown reception, as the Falcons led 35-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Hair opened the second quarter with a pass fake and a delayed run for a 47-yard touchdown. Eldon’s Devin Wardenburg returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, getting the Mustangs into the scoring column to make it 42-6.

On the ensuing kickoff, Wardenburg recovered the onside kick as well for the Mustangs. But three plays later, Eldon fumbled a lateral and Holden Brand picked up the loose ball, returning all the way to the Mustangs’ 1-yard line.

Hayden Lackman scored on a 1-yard run on the next play, then two drives later, Bryson Varner scored on a 3-yard run for the Falcons to extend the lead to 56-6.

Kerperin and Varner, who are both starters on defense, came in on offense to score their touchdowns out of the wishbone formation.

“Those were both power plays,” LePage said. “As we go on, that’s going to be part of our offense that we can put in there and run.”

Both teams traded turnovers to end the first half, as Kole Evers recovered a fumble for Eldon and Jace Rackers recovered a fumble for Blair Oaks.

“We got a lot of negative plays out of our No. 1 defense, plus a lot of turnovers,” LePage said. “We’re attacking the football so much better this year defensively.”

Blair Oaks added to its 50-point halftime lead, as Hair’s final pass attempt of the game found the arms of Hall in the end zone for his third touchdown grab, this one from 38 yards. That extended the lead to 63-6 midway through the third quarter.

Krystopher Shepard answered with a 73-yard touchdown run for Eldon, as the Mustangs trailed 63-14 entering the fourth quarter.

The Blair Oaks JV offense had two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Dylan Kliegel scored on a 13-yard run and Tyler Bax added a 6-yard run, as both players scored their first rushing touchdowns of the season.

Laughlin’s point-after attempt on the Falcons’ final touchdown with 3:51 to play missed just to the side of the right upright. Prior to that, he had an impressive streak of 42 consecutive made PATs that dated back to Week 2.

Eldon sandwiched a 72-yard touchdown pass from Evan Beanland to Wardenburg between the Blair Oaks touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Beanland filled in for quarterback Hunter Hees, who missed his second straight game due to injury.

“We were really excited to play against him,” LePage said of Hees. “We hope he gets back soon for them.”

Blair Oaks finished with 551 total yards, the fifth time in seven games the Falcons have had 500 or more yards of offense.

Hair was 11-of-16 passing for 210 yards and added three carries for 128 yards. Hall led the receivers with seven catches for 156 yards and Lackman added eight carries for 77 yards.

Shepard finished with 15 carries for 112 yards for the Mustangs, who totaled 193 net yards of offense. Beanland was 10-of-22 passing for 101 yards.

Eldon (3-4, 1-4 Tri-County Conference), which has lost its last four games, plays next Friday at California. The Pintos (2-5, 1-4 Tri-County) snapped a four-game losing skid Friday with a 28-18 win at Versailles.

Blair Oaks (7-0, 5-0 Tri-County), ranked No. 1 in Class 2, hosts Hallsville next Friday for Senior Night. The Indians (4-3, 3-2 Tri-County) won 48-27 on Friday at home against Southern Boone.

Last season, Hallsville edged Blair Oaks 56-51 in a shootout.

“This is one game the players have been looking forward to for quite some time,” LePage said.