WARDSVILLE - The Blair Oaks Falcons did what they were expected to do.
In a Class 3 District 5 first-round matchup of an undefeated team against a winless team, the Falcons cruised to a 68-7 win Friday night against the St. James Tigers at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"They did what they were supposed to do," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. "We got better this week on the practice field, and that's where it all starts."
Blair Oaks scored touchdowns on each of its first 10 possessions, six of which started in St. James territory.
The Tigers received the opening kick and fumbled on their first offensive play. Two plays later, Reid Dudenhoeffer had a 19-yard catch-and run for a touchdown from Dylan Hair. Zach Herigon, who was 8-of-10 on extra point attempts, added the PAT to put Blair Oaks ahead 7-0 just 31 seconds into the game.
"We got a lot of short fields, and the defense has done that all year," LePage said. "I thought our attack of the football was off the charts."
On the Falcons' next possession, Dudenhoeffer caught another pass from Hair but fumbled the ball at the 2-yard line. Carson Prenger recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown with 8:30 still to play in the first quarter, making the score 14-0.
Dudenhoeffer caught a 5-yard touchdown pass on the Falcons' next possession, then Jake Closser took a pitch 52 yards into the end zone to extend the lead to 27-0 in the final minute of the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Hair had touchdown runs of 25 and 32 yards, then Riley Lentz scored on a 1-yard run to make the score 48-0 with 6:55 remaining in the first half.
After that possession, LePage brought in his No. 2 offense, which produced an eight-play, 60-yard scoring drive. Jayden Purdy scored on a 6-yard run just inside the pylon with :23.1 remaining to give the Falcons a 55-0 lead at halftime.
The starting offense returned for the opening drive of the second half and Hair completed a 35-yard pass downfield to Closser for a touchdown.
The backup offense returned on the next series, and after St. James was called for roughing the kicker on a 30-yard field-goal attempt by Herigon, Aiden Boeckmann scored on a 7-yard run to make the score 68-0 with :53.4 to go in the third quarter.
The Blair Oaks defense forced a season-high five turnovers. Carson Bax recovered two fumbles, Griffin Herst had a fumble recovery and Levi Haney had an interception in the first half.
In the fourth quarter, with St. James nearing the red zone, Herigon intercepted a pass at the Blair Oaks 3-yard line and followed with a 30-yard return with 6:19 to play in the game.
"I was really pleased with our No. 2 defense," LePage said. "When our No. 2 defense went in, the things they did were very good. We played every player tonight, and when you do that, that adds morale for practice next week."
St. James scored its first touchdown in four weeks on the final play of the game. Rustin Branum found an opening along the right sideline and raced past the Blair Oaks defense into the end zone for an 81-yard touchdown run. Tyler Limback added the extra point for the Tigers before time expired.
Blair Oaks finished the game with 443 yards of offense, with 280 yards coming on 32 carries.
Nine different players carried the ball for the Falcons. Hair had five rushes for 80, while Closser finished with 69 yards on three attempts. Purdy and Lentz added 47 and 40 yards rushing, respectively.
Hair completed 8-of-9 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Dudenhoeffer caught four of those passes for 96 yards.
"Each week, he keeps getting better," LePage said of Dudenhoeffer. " Reid has tremendous hands, and for being as big as he is, he's fast, so I was glad to see him use his speed."
St. James (0-10) had 182 yards of offense. Branum had 13 carries for a game-high 115 yards.
Blair Oaks (10-0), the No. 1 seed and the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3, will host the fourth-seeded Salem Tigers next Friday in the district semifinals. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Salem (7-3) won 30-20 on Friday at home against the School of the Osage Indians. In other District 5 games Friday, second-seeded Buffalo won 41-6 against Eldon, while sixth-seeded Logan-Rogersville upset Springfield Catholic 26-7.