CALIFORNIA -- Blair Oaks quarterback Dylan Hair entered Friday’s game 209 yards shy of the Falcons’ career passing yards record.
Turns out, he broke a different record instead.
Hair rushed for a single-game record of 351 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns, leading Blair Oaks to a 52-14 win against the California Pintos in a Tri-County Conference game at Riley Field.
“What a record,” Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. “When it’s all said and done, he’s going to have probably every record there is.”
The previous Blair Oaks single-game rushing record was 307 yards, which was set by Ryan Green during the 2003 season in a game against California.
Hair finished the game 10-of-14 passing for 175 yards and three touchdowns. That leaves him 34 yards behind the career passing yards mark of 8,786, which is held by his older brother, Nolan Hair.
“When the season’s over, he’s going to get a lot of acknowledgement, because he is a tremendous player,” LePage said of Dylan Hair. “I don’t think we appreciate him as much as we should.”
Blair Oaks finished the game with 624 yards of total offense -- 442 yards rushing and 182 yards passing -- but it took until near the end of the first quarter for the Falcons to get going on offense.
California forced a three-and-out on Blair Oaks’ opening possession, then turned the Falcons over on downs at the Pintos’ 2-yard line.
California followed that stop with a 14-play, 98-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle by Brooks Volkart. Eric Cardenas added the extra point to give the Pintos a 7-0 lead with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
It was the first time Blair Oaks has trailed all season, and the deficit lasted for a mere 86 seconds.
Hayden Lackman answered with a 5-yard touchdown run on the Falcons’ ensuing possession, and Nolan Laughlin made the first of his seven extra points to tie the score at 7.
Blair Oaks scored on each of its first three possessions in the second quarter. The first two touchdowns came on runs of 27 and 79 yards by Hair, as he broke numerous tackles on the first score and sprinted past the California defense for the second touchdown.
Hair then threw a perfect pass downfield to Alec Wieberg for a 35-yard touchdown with 7:47 left in the first half, extending the Falcons’ lead to 28-7.
California answered with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Martin Kilmer to Ayden Bryant, making it a two-possession game.
It was all Blair Oaks after that. Bryant’s touchdown catch with 5:37 left in the second quarter would be the Pintos’ final first down of the game.
“We came out and played lights-out defense in the second half,” LePage said.
Hair followed the blocking of his offensive line for a 1-yard touchdown run with :21.6 left in the second quarter, giving Blair Oaks a 35-14 halftime lead.
Hair added a pair of touchdown passes in the second half. The first was a 5-yard strike to Joey Wilde at the left pylon, the other was a 41-yard downfield throw to a wide-open Jake Hagner on the opening play of the fourth quarter to make the score 49-14.
Laughlin added a 26-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter for the Falcons’ final score.
The Pintos finished with 274 yards of total offense. Kilmer was 11-of-24 passing for 182 yards with one touchdown and one interception by the Falcons’ Brady Kerperin on California’s first possession.
Volkart had 20 rushes for 56 yards and Tyler Oden added 11 carries for 38 yards, as Blair Oaks held California to just 91 yards rushing.
The Pintos had just 13 total yards of offense in the second half.
“They were looking for answers, and they couldn’t find an answer to what we tweaked (at halftime),” LePage said.
Lackman finished with 17 carries for 77 yards, while Wilde had six catches for 82 yards. Wieberg added three catches for 52 yards.
California (1-3, 0-2 Tri-County) hosts School of the Osage next Friday. The Indians (2-3, 1-1 Tri-County) blanked Eldon 28-0 on Friday.
Blair Oaks (4-0), ranked No. 2 in Class 2, hosts Boonville (3-1) next Friday in a battle between the last two remaining 2-0 team in Tri-County play. The Pirates held off Southern Boone for an 18-14 win Friday.
“We felt a little pain up there last year,” LePage said, referring to the Falcons’ 41-35 regular-season loss to the Pirates. “This is an opportunity for our guys to grow up, have a good week of practice, come out and play a really, really good football team.”