"The five guys who play on our offensive line (Corbin Bonnett, Connor Wilson, Collin Branum, Andrew Luebbering, Shane Gilmore) have just blossomed with the scheme we're doing," LePage said. "It's probably more of a downhill scheme than they've done in the past, and they're blocking and communicating very well.

"The defensive line (including Nolan Atnip, Caleb Buechter, Rylee Niekamp), they have not allowed the offensive linemen to get to the linebackers, so we're able to make a lot of plays with our four linebackers. We're running a different scheme than they did last year and they've really adapted to it well."

Obviously, the Falcons (5-0, 3-0 Tri-County, No. 2 Class 2) have also adapted very well to their new head coach --- even though LePage being at Blair Oaks is nothing new.

In his first tenure with the Falcons, 2001-05, LePage led the Falcons to a 48-13 record and the 2004 state championship. Now, after 12 years directing the Jefferson City Jays, LePage is back in Wardsville and his teams have picked up where they left off.

Winning.

A lot.

Still, it was adjustment for these players who were barely out of diapers when LePage left.

"Everything about working with young people is about trust," LePage said. "The first thing we had to do was come in and develop relationships with them, then we had to get their trust. We asked a lot of questions, like: Where would you like to go with this? If here's the way we did this, would you trust us?

"And they did."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

TO SAY THE FALCONS HAVE BEEN DOMINANT this season would be an understatement.

After starting with a win over defending Class 3 state champion Maryville, Blair Oaks --- which has dropped to Class 2 this season --- has been something far beyond dominant the last four weeks.

But first, the win over Maryville ...

"I think we almost shocked ourselves a little bit when we went up 19-0," LePage said. "Our players were like: 'This can't be happening.' Then we let Maryville back in the game --- and they're a very good football team --- but that should not have happened.

"But that game just led to more trust and belief in what we were doing,"

What happened next was something else --- four wins, three shutouts, and a scoring margin of 165-6.

165-6. How do you like me now?

While LePage started this conversation with the play of the offensive and defensive lines, this team has basically been great everywhere, including the play of Hair.

"We're still in the infancy stages of what we'd like to do, offensively," LePage said. "But he's making the correct reads, he puts us in the correct play and every day, he wants to watch film and learn something new about the offense.

"We're allowing him to grow and he's doing a really, really great job. He's a great player and he's as humble as the day is long. His humility to take instructive criticism and to learn is off the charts, and it's also about him handing the ball off and letting somebody take the pressure off him.

"In the past, he's put it upon himself to make every play. But with this offensive scheme, he doesn't have to make everything be perfect and make every play.

"We still haven't seen his best days in this offense."

That's another scary thought, because Hair's numbers are staggering --- 54-of-86 for 1,120 yards and 16 touchdowns with no interceptions, along with four scoring runs.

Just Hair alone --- and not even counting extra points --- is averaging 24 points a game.

"He's got extreme talent and every day, he wants to learn more about this game," LePage said. "He makes you want to go to work every day to be around him ... and it's not just him, it's the entire team."

Hair has a lot of offensive weapons at his disposal, most notably seniors Ben Thomas, Marcus Edler and Braydan Pritchett, a trio of quickness and speed.

Speed is one of the key words on offense for the Falcons, and it might be the key word on defense.

"Everybody can run," LePage said. "You heard about the offensive power they had, but defensively, there were some question marks, just because of what happened in the last game last year (giving up 49 points in a semifinal loss to Maryville).

"I really have been surprised about how they've bought into this new system. But defense is more contagious than offense --- once you get a taste of it, you just get more and more ravenous."

Junior linebacker is Sam Luebbering is "the heart of the defense," LePage said. "He's fast and he hits anything that moves." But the quarterback of the defense is Atnip.

Obviously, the Falcons are quite good right now, but they could be historically good by the end of the season.

Just how good?

"Great question," LePage said, "easy answer --- 1-0. Every week, that's all we talk about, we want to be 1-0. Because the only thing we can control is what's in front of us (and that's a home game with Hallsville at 7 p.m. Friday), that's all I'm worried about."

For a mad scientist, that's a really boring answer.

The Blair Oaks Falcons have been a dominant steamroller through five games this season.