North Callaway's Adam Reno (9) stares down South Callaway running back Kaden Helsel (second from right) during the first half of Friday night's game in Kingdom City. While Reno had a big night on defense --- including a fumble strip and 99-yard return for a touchdown --- he was even bigger on offense, rushing for 229 yards on 37 carries and scoring two touchdowns.

How sweet it is: Thunderbirds win

both battle and war vs. Bulldogs

Nov. 3, 2017

KINGDOM CITY, Mo. --- It's why we love sports, for games like this.

Emotionally-charged, passionate affairs against your arch rival, with more jolting collisions than a demolition derby.

This one, however, was even more than that.

This one was an emotionally-charged, passionate affair against your arch rival, with more jolting collisions than a demolition derby --- and with the season on the line.

Earlier this season, North Callaway won the battle against South Callaway. Friday night, North Callaway won the even-more-important war.

In the second Callaway Cup clash in eight weeks, Adam Reno rushed for two touchdowns and also scored on an improbable 99-yard defensive strip and score as the Thunderbirds ended the season of the Bulldogs with a 38-20 win in the Class 2 District 5 championship game.

You figured this would be close, and it was --- until the fourth quarter.

The seventh-ranked Thunderbirds (11-1) set the tone on their first drive of the game --- Reno, right, Reno left, Reno up the middle.

Stop him if you can.

The bruising 6-foot, 220-point senior running back has legs as sturdy as mature Oaks. He can be tackled one on one, however --- if you play on Saturdays, or perhaps even Sundays, that is.

For high school players, good luck.

Reno finished with 229 yards rushing on a staggering 37 attempts, and he carried it 10 straight times on the game-opening 11-play drive, an effort capped on Tully Thomsen's seven-yard touchdown toss to Clark Zerr to make it 6-0 midway through the first quarter.

This game featured some strange plays, to be sure, and the 10th-ranked Bulldogs (10-2) took the lead on the first one.

After driving to the T- Birds' 22, Landon Hortsman rolled right and heaved a pass into the end zone. This was basically a Hail Mary, albeit a short one. Horstman's heave deflected off several players on a jump ball at the goal line, and the ball bounced into the air and landed in the arms of Peyton Leeper --- who was flat on his back.

The ESPN Top 10 play --- at least it should be --- gave the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead with 8:53 left in the first half.

But the Thunderbirds --- who won their first district title since 2011 and will play at Clark County at 1 p.m. next Saturday in the quarterfinals --- had an answer. On fourth-and-4 from the South Cal 45, Thomsen tossed a short pass to Jordan Delashmutt, who bounced off a defender and raced the distance down the right sideline to make it 12-7.

There was still 7:12 left in the first half, but North Callaway would have the lead the rest of the way.

The lead grew to 18-7 just two minutes later. After Delashmutt returned an interception to the T-Bird 46, Reno busted through a big hole up the middle on the next play and rumbled 54 yards for the score.

The Bulldogs had an answer on a drive set up on an interception by Leeper ---- who also made a bobbling catch of Hortsman's 28-yard scoring toss with 61 seconds left in the half to make it 18-13.

But the rest of the night, the Bulldogs were victims of their own mistakes --- they finished with six turnovers, four after the break, two of those coming inside the T-Birds' 15.

First, North Cal recovered a fumble on its own 14 to thwart a South Cal drive to open the second half. The T-Birds then put together a time-consuming 86-yard march, a drive capped on Reno's 4-yard blast to make it 25-13 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Then, the strangeness continued. After the Bulldogs had marched back downfield, it appeared Horstman had scored on a 4-yard run. But he was stopped inches short of the goal, as Reno stripped it away, pulled away from the pile, and rumbled 99 yards for a touchdown.

Backbreaker.

The teams swapped touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with North Cal's score coming on Thomsen's third touchdown pass of the night. All that was left with a big, green celebration, as the Thunderbirds beat the Bulldogs for the second time in eight weeks --- and after they'd lost seven straight in this heated North vs. South rivalry of Callaway County.

Here's guessing that it makes winning this battle and this war even sweeter.