The Blair Oaks Falcons celebrate their fourth straight district championship after defeating South Callaway last Friday night in Wardsville.

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Having fun winning: Powerful
Blair Oaks takes aim on Clark Co.

Nov. 16, 2018

WARDSVILLE, Mo. --- South Callaway had a good football team. Actually, quite good --- you have to be to win 10 straight in a 12-game season.

But like all others, the Bulldogs were simply bugs on the windshield of this Blair Oaks Football Machine.

No chance.

The Falcons aren't just winning, they're decimating teams ... some good teams, some bad. Whoever's come their way, they haven't blinked.

Winning sure is fun, but it goes far beyond that. Girls aren't the only ones who want to have fun, because these guys are having a ton of it.

"It's been a blast and it started last March, coming in and seeing they wanted to have fun playing football," said Falcons coach Ted LePage, whose top-ranked Falcons (12-0) play at eighth-ranked Clark County (10-2) in the Class 2 quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.

"The players really gravitated to it; the process is a heck of a lot more fun than the end result. Everybody wants to be state champs, but the end result is about how much fun they had playing in their high school career.

"Let's win some game and have some fun doing it."

Apparently, even practices have been a blast.

Tuesday, there was snow on the ground and the wind chill was 22, and these guys came out and had a great practice," LePage said. "They just enjoy playing the game."

Even when it's cold, the Falcons have remained red-hot. In last week's 49-2 drubbing of South Callaway to clinch Blair Oaks' fourth straight district championship, it was silly-cold for this time of year, even colder when you factor in the winds on a night that featured blowing snow.

But this team had a (snow) ball.

"That doesn't happen very often, but we welcomed that," LePage said. "When I took the job, one of the things I talked about with the seniors is that last year towards November, they were a pass-happy team and I think it (cold, windy weather) got in their heads a little bit.

"I told them that it's always Falcon weather --- if it's 100 degrees, it's Falcon weather; if it's minus-10 and snowing, it's Falcon weather. I think our guys really gravitated to that and last week, we just kept talking about how exciting it was to play in snow.

"Not too many high school people south of Iowa can say that, so our guys relished it."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

IF YOUR FAVORITE COLOR IS GREEN, you've had to relish this season.

It opened with a grudge match from last year's semifinals against defending Class 3 state champ Maryville (which is back in the quarterfinals), and a gritty 38-35 Blair Oaks' win.

That game was certainly the exception, not the rule, for the rest of the season --- the Falcons have won their last 11 by a staggering total of 603-66.

"Starting with Maryville," LePage said, "alll we've talked about is 1-0, that's been our mainstay --- let's go 1-0 this week. Let's have fun, let's play ball and let's get after it. We need to keep taking care of what we can take care of, and that's ourselves.

"We have long-team goals, but we have short-term goals and that's all we talk about."

This amazing season for the team has featured some amazing seasons by several players, none more than senior quarterback Nolan Hair.

You think 603-66 is impressive? Well, get a load of these numbers --- 37 touchdown passes, ZERO interceptions.

You just don't do that.

"The only thing I can possibly compare it to is when Justin Gage (who would go on to enjoy a long career in the NFL) was a senior for us at Jeff City (in 1998)," LePage said. "Justin was a heck of a quarterback, but I don't think he had, statistically, the season (21 TD passes, one interception) that Nolan's having.

"Of course, we were more of a running football team at Jeff City at that point in time. With Nolan, we've pretty much been 50-50 (run-pass). He's a true dual threat. Early in the season, we were protecting him a little bit, but now we're turning him loose and he's really giving people trouble with his feet."

Fans know all about the dynamic trio of Hair and fellow seniors Ben Thomas and Brayden Pritchett.

To say they've been special would only scratch the surface.

But as is the case with every football team at every level, it must start up front with the offensive and defensive lines. And it has, with a bang.

ON OFFENSE: seniors Colin Braunum and Connor Wilson, juniors Shane Gilmore, Andrew Luebbering, Corban Bonnett.

"We're able to take the guys that we have and play the way that we need to, and that starts with the O-line," LePage said. "They've done a fantastic job of growing this year, that's where we've seen our biggest growth, because we knew the skills guys were there. They just seems to get better and better each week."

ON DEFENSE: seniors Nolan Atnip and Caleb Buechter, junior Rylee Niekamp

"Those three gentlemen have dominated our opppnent's five O-linemen," LePage said, "and that's allowed our linebackers to run around and make plays."

Blair Oaks' front seven or eight will be tested Saturday by the run-happy Indians.

"A lot of people keep saying, This team's coming, this team's coming, this team's coming," LePage said. "But I think all of our players are deserving of being where we're at at this point of the season, because I think a lot of people are still doubting them.

"We're playing defense, we're running the ball, we're playing good special teams, and we know the throwing aspect will be there."

They're having a blast, too.

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