Running out of time to see Blair Oaks Express

Come one...come all to the greatest show on turf...high school edition. Last week's senior night at Blair Oaks reminded me that we are rapidly coming to the end of another high school football season...and with it the end of an offensive juggernaut that may not be seen in these parts again for many years to come. The Blair Oaks Falcons could name the score against any other team they have played this year, and are likely to play until late in the district tournament at best. The likes of Hair, Thomas, Edler, and Pritchitt on one team is almost unfair. Maybe next year, the tables will turn...a little..but not until then. Let's go to the scoreboard.

Blair Oaks 59, Osage 7

Ted LePage tries to be good...he really does...but when you have a quarterback that throws 3 - 5 touchdown passes every ten attempts or so, there's only so much you can do. What else can you do, but run the ball as much as possible. But every now and then you've got to let Thomas, Edler and Pritchitt stretch their legs. Shoot, Coach LePage is even having these kids run the ball...and they usually do for more than 10 yards a pop. Hair is at least 17 for his last 17...and that streak may not end this weekend at California. The defense was solid as usual...although it had its hands full with a 215 pound bull of a running back and a quarterback who was cat quick. Don't like to see 16 play drives that take up more than six minutes...but that's the style most teams will play against Blair Oaks the deeper we go into the playoffs.

Jefferson City 17, Battle 14

Big win for Terry Walker and the boys. A last-second field goal could be just the tonic this ball club needs to put them over the top. We;ll know more after Friday and Rockhurst.

Rock Bridge 52, Helias 28

Chris Hentges says there was a lot to like about his team's effort in this game. He said Rock Bridge might be the best team the Crusaders have played all season long...and it's been a death march for Helias with Vianney, Ritter, St. Francis Borgia...and now this week...a beast from the east...St. Louis DeSmet which dismantled jefferson City a couple of weeks ago.

Hickman 21, Truman 0

Good to see Hickman getting back on the winning track.

Southern Boone 55, California 16

SoBoCo found just the tonic for getting over the Blair Oaks loss.

South Callaway 41, Wright City 21

SoCal's getting on a nice roll just before districts. They move into second place behind Blair Oaks with this win.

Kirksville 34, Moberly 32

This one hurts the Spartans who were closing in on a number one seed.

Camdenton 56, Rolla 13

The Lakers about to clinch the Class 4 district over St. Francis Borgia. Rolla likely to finish third. Helias looks like a lock at #5 and a first rounder with Union.

Hannibal 42, Marshall 0

Smith-Cotton 47, Clinton 7

Versailles 41, Eldon 24

Wonder when the last time was that Versailles beat both Eldon and School of the Osage?

Boonville 31, Hallsville 12

Boonville will finish second in the conference, as they should. They were the second-best team we saw this year.

Mexico 49, Fulton 14

Don't know what the future holds for Trey Barrow after this winless fiasco of a season.

Mark Twain 24, North Callaway 22

North Callaway all of a sudden sputtering down the stretch...second loss in a row.

Tolton 47, Warsaw 8

Warsaw finds out it's still risky playing central Missouri teams. Tolton at 2 and 6 still in fourth place in the district just ahead of Hermann. May need a win over O'Fallon Christian Friday night to hold on to the spot. More on the Tailblazers later.

Tipton 36, Santa Fe 0

Sullivan 47, Owensville 13

Hermann 40, Pacific 14

Centralia 46, West Hancock (IL) 0

Montgomery County 60, Van-Far 20

Something's gotten into Montgomery County which follows up its upset of North Callaway with a demolition of Van Far. Still looks like Montgomery County will be on the road on the first district night.

Breaking down the District...and Beyond

This one's easy...Blair Oaks has wrapped up the district championship and will have home field advantage all the way through the district playoffs. They will play California at home October 26th in the first round...doing the deadly back-to-back end of regular season - first round of district double. Tolton will finish at best fourth, at worst fifth...either way, this team scares the dickens out of me. They have a tall rangy quarterback who can throw the ball a mile and is a good...albeit reluctant runner. They also have a big running back, an enormous line and receivers who can go get the ball. The night we saw them, the quarterback Hunter was erratic with his accuracy...but if he's on...this team will put points on the scoreboard and in bunches. This could be Blair Oaks' second round match up. I would say South Callaway or North Callaway could be tough outs too. North Callaway is a smash it right at you team with big backs. South Callaway is smaller, but with better, faster, athletes which runs the Flexbone. I don't think they are as good as they were four or five years ago, but teams like Blair Oaks don't see the flexbone much anymore. Either North or South is likely to see Blair Oaks on district championship night.

Now...we know coaches are all like..."one game at a time"...and stuff...but this is a blog, so let's look way ahead to the state bracket. Should Blair Oaks win the district (it's fourth in a row), they would face the winner of District 6 in the state quarterfinals. Not sure where this one will be played, but no matter...this one will be quite the challenge. Looks like it's coming down to Palmyra or Monroe City. Both play a smash-mouth style of offense with a physical defensive presence. Monroe City is the defending Class State Champion, Palmyra has been the conference runner-up the last two years. Monroe has the upper hand in the district, and looks like they will win it wit one loss. Clark County is number two, but both they and Palmyra have lost twice... Clark has lost to Centralia early, and Monroe last week. The Indians laid it on Palmyra 30-8 the week before that. Monroe City's only loss has been to Macon...which is in District 8...where it sits in fourth place with two losses.

From there...it would be the winner of the quarterfinal between District 7 and District 8...District 8 has undefeated Lathrop at the top with Lexington and our old nemesis Lawson at 7 and 1, then Macon at 6 and 2. District 8 is the prohibitive favorite here no matter who survives. And of course...no run to the Class 2 state championship would be complete without a meeting with seven time state champion...Lamar which appears to have a rather straight-forward run to the championship game again.

But...we're not getting ahead of ourselves. As Ted LePage says it..."we want to be one and oh at the end of the week."