WARDSVILLE - If there was a loose ball, the Blair Oaks Falcons had it covered Friday night.
The Blair Oaks defense recovered all three fumbles by the St. James Tigers, and the offense recovered its only loose ball for a touchdown.
"Coach (John) Butler and coach (Andrew) Terpstra, they preach every day that a ball on the ground, a ball anywhere, no matter what happens, point," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said after the Falcons' 68-7 win to open Class 3 District 5 play at the Falcon Athletic Complex. "Our players are always pointing."
In total, Blair Oaks had five takeaways against St. James, increasing its season total to 19. The Falcons went the first five games this season without a fumble recovery, but now they have nine.
And then there's the fumble recovery that resulted in a touchdown.
Facing second-and-4 early in the first quarter, Blair Oaks quarterback Dylan Hair threw a pass to Reid Dudenhoeffer, who made a dash toward the end zone. However, Dudenhoeffer lost control of the ball as he was running at the 2-yard line, and the loose ball was just laying there in the end zone.
In swooped Carson Prenger, another Blair Oaks receiver who trailed Dudenhoeffer on the play. He recovered the ball for a touchdown, putting the Falcons ahead 14-0.
"That's something that you can't really ever get across to a player until they experience the pain of losing one," LePage said. "That was a touchdown, Reid was going to score.
"Part of that carry-over from defense is we're so conscious that when the ball's on the ground, we work on it every day on ball security and ball recovery. That was a true heads-up play by Carson."
Carson Bax, a defensive lineman, recovered two St. James fumbles in the first half. He is now tied for the team lead in that category.
"Carson, his consistency all season has been really good, and it just continues to build," LePage said. "I'm really excited about his future."
Griffin Herst recovered the third fumble, while Levi Haney snagged an interception. The Falcons' first four turnovers each led to a touchdown on their next possession.
Blair Oaks led 27-0 after one quarter and 55-0 at halftime.
In the fourth quarter, Zach Herigon - who handles placekicking and kickoff duties for the Falcons - got a chance to play defense, and made an interception for the team's fifth takeaway.
"Zach had got really good athleticism," LePage said. "He really did a nice job on that. It was a great interception, and we thought he might take it all the way back."
In typical fashion, with a big lead, the Blair Oaks second-stringers took the field in the second half after the starters played one series each on offense and defense. But this time, the backups took the field before that, finishing up the second quarter on the field.
"We look at our twos and say, 'Hey, you're going to get valuable experience by getting extra practice out of the playoffs. Use it to your advantage,'" LePage said. "I thought our twos have really grown up a lot of the season. We had a really good game against Helias in JV on Monday night, and I thought that carried over."
Jayden Purdy and Aiden Boeckmann each scored their first rushing touchdowns of the season.
"We were moving the ball well," LePage said. "We got two scores out of our No. 2 offense. Any time you can do that in a high school football game, that's a good job."
The first-stringers did well for themselves, too.
Jake Closser, who leads the Falcons in receiving, took his turn running the ball. He started the rushing attack with a 15-yard jet sweep, then took a pitch from Hair and ran in from 52 yards out late in the first quarter for his first rushing touchdown.
"Jake did a good job, but the blocking was really good," LePage said. "That edge blocking was really good. He circled the field, went outside and hit the lane. When he slingshots up, he's to the next level and he's gone."
While Closser was working on his run game, Dudenhoeffer took over as the Falcons' leading receiver with four catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Normally a short-route receiver, Dudenhoeffer hauled in a 50-yard pass downfield from Hair.
"Each week, he keeps getting better," LePage said.
With Dudenhoeffer's performance Friday, the Falcons now have four players each with more than 300 yards receiving. Dudenhoeffer showed he can be as hard to contain as Closser, Prenger or Cobi Marble.
"They look at Jake and think, 'Well, we've got to double Jake,'" LePage said. "But to see (Reid) catch the ball like that, now it's like, 'Well, we've got to watch out for him also.'"
However, there was some cause for concern in the blowout win. Rylee Niekamp, the Falcons' all-state defensive lineman, left the game in the first half with a right knee injury and did not return.
LePage said Niekamp twisted his knee, but they'll learn more about the injury this week.
"We were doing well, and it's something they thought that with a little rest over the weekend, they thought he'd be good to go by next week," LePage said. "We'll see, we'll re-evaluate. From everything I've been told, it's nothing serious. It's just a little sore."
Blair Oaks nearly pulled off its fourth shutout of the season, but St. James scored on the game's final play when Rustin Branum rushed past everyone to the right side of the field for an 81-yard score.
Branum, St. James' senior quarterback, has struggled this season, throwing 11 interceptions without a touchdown. After the game, LePage learned it was Branum's first career rushing touchdown.
"I told our players you hate to give one up, but that's a kid who has played four years of football, and he was so excited," LePage said. "I went up and congratulated him afterward. I said, 'How'd that feel?' and he said, 'Pretty good.'
"From a sportsmanship standpoint, you want every kid to enjoy high school football, and that guy got to score a touchdown. Yeah, we don't want to give up the shutout. Yeah, we hate giving up points. But at the same standpoint, that may have made that kid's year."
Branum led St. James (0-10) with 115 yards rushing.
Blair Oaks (10-0), ranked No. 1 in Class 3, is set to host the Salem Tigers next Friday in the district semifinals. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Salem (7-3), the No. 4 seed, opened district play Friday with a 30-20 win against School of the Osage.