Blair Oaks goes on road to face Southern Boone for Tri-County battle

Blair Oaks' Jayden Purdy returns a kickoff past a Hallsville defender during last Friday night's game at the Falcon Athletic Complex in Wardsville.
Blair Oaks' Jayden Purdy returns a kickoff past a Hallsville defender during last Friday night's game at the Falcon Athletic Complex in Wardsville.

WARDSVILLE - The big Tri-County Conference game of the season has arrived once again, and the Blair Oaks Falcons are still sitting on their perch atop the conference standings.

Two years ago, it was School of the Osage trying to dethrone Blair Oaks. Last year, it was Eldon. Tonight, it will be the Southern Boone Eagles.

The Falcons, ranked No. 2 in Class 2 in this week's Missouri Media Rankings, will go on the road to play the Class 3 No. 6 Eagles in Ashland. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Southern Boone (5-1, 3-1 Tri-County) has scored plenty of points in its wins, averaging 43.2 points per game. Most recently, the Eagles trounced School of the Osage 40-7 last Friday.

"The structure of the season is they've had five really good offensive games," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said.

The Eagles defense has not allowed more than a touchdown in any of their five wins as well.

"That is something that gets your attention right off the bat," LePage said.

The anomaly for Southern Boone is that Week 3 loss, a 30-22 decision on the road against Versailles.

While LePage said he could go back and look on film to see what it was that plagued Southern Boone in that defeat, or what it was Versailles was able to expose, it wouldn't do him much good.

"That's one of the things we've noticed, is the corrections they've made since that loss and how they shored stuff up," he said. "They haven't had a lot of kinks in the armor since then.

"They made some mistakes in the Versailles game. They're not making any mistakes to beat themselves, and if you don't beat yourself in high school football, you've got a chance."

Southern Boone's offense is led by senior Sam Stichnote, a dual-threat quarterback who has prided on his running ability this season.

Stichnote (6-foot-1, 170 pounds) has completed 24-of-41 passes for 409 yards and six touchdowns, but he has also rushed 51 times for 437 yards and eight touchdowns.

"He is a better runner than probably a lot of the quarterbacks we've seen," LePage said. "He's a very pure runner, he's not a scrambler. He's a running quarterback, and they look to run him."

Senior running back Colby Phillips (5-7, 155) is averaging better than 11 yards per carry, with 749 yards on 66 rushes and 10 touchdowns. He also has a pair of receiving touchdowns and a pair of kickoff returns for scores.

"Phillips is hard-nosed," LePage said. "He runs exactly where he needs to go. He's probably one of the better backs in the conference, and he's physical."

LePage said Southern Boone runs a spread offense with a single running back behind Stichnote. That gives the Eagles the chance to spread the defense, with Stichnote's ability to throw the deep pass, but they can use that as a disguise to give either Stichnote or Phillips more room to run the ball.

"They're going to extend the field vertically, and that's something we haven't seen a lot this year," LePage said. "They're not playing in an 11-yard box, they're going sideline to sideline."

Sophomore Blake Dapkus (6-0, 160) leads Southern Boone's receivers with 10 catches for 227 yards and three touchdowns.

And at times, Southern Boone has been known to insert junior Tyson Smith at quarterback and utilize Stichnote as another back or receiver. Stichnote caught a 36-yard touchdown pass two weeks ago in a 34-8 win at Hallsville.

"They're not afraid to do that at any point in the game," LePage said.

The Eagles have found the end zone often this season, but they also possess the best kicker in Class 3.

Senior Parker Boyce (5-11, 185), a returning all-state first team kicker, has made 4-of-5 field goals this season, including a 47-yarder against Hallsville.

"If they get inside the 35, they've got a chance (at scoring)," LePage said.

Boyce has also recorded 20 touchbacks on kickoffs.

"He kicks it out of the back of the end zone, and percentages aren't in your favor when you start on your own 20-yard line," LePage said. "He is a unique weapon that they have."

LePage said Southern Boone will mostly operate a 4-3 defense that has been in a "bend don't break" mode all season. Last Friday, the Eagles allowed 247 yards rushing against the Indians, yet yielded only one touchdown.

"They have two really good interior linemen and they have two exterior linemen that are very big and they control the line of scrimmage," LePage said. "They're able to take away the run with those four gentlemen, and then their linebackers are able to scrape and make any outside play.

"Their secondary are pretty much their receivers turned around, and they're good athletes. We're not seeing anybody really having any success throwing the ball on them."

Senior linebacker Brett Stanfield (6-0, 185) leads the Eagles with 70 tackles, while Boyce has added 51 tackles and three tackles for loss, also at linebacker.

Dapkus has three of Southern Boone's eight interceptions, while Stichnote, a returning all-state defensive back, has an interception and 33 tackles. Junior Tanner Goodrich (5-9, 170) was an all-conference defensive back last season and is third on the team with 36 tackles.

"We're not seeing (them give up) any big plays," LePage said. "They're letting you make a mistake.

"If you get a 6-yard gain, they're OK. They're going to line up and try to stop you again. But they're not giving up the 12-, the 15-, the 20-yard plays. Each time you line up, the percentages are in their favor."

Blair Oaks (6-0, 4-0 Tri-County) is coming off a 69-21 Homecoming win last Friday against Hallsville. The Falcons' offense struggled on its first series, then proceeded to score seven touchdowns - in addition to a pair of pick-sixes - before halftime.

"We're going to look at the defense, we're going to see areas we want to go after, and we're going to attack those areas," LePage said. "We have an option that's based on that you're going to tell us what you're going to give us."

III

For the sixth straight week, Blair Oaks is positioned behind Lamar at the top of the Class 2 standings. However, the Falcons lost one point this week, finishing with 106 points. Blair Oaks quarterback Nolan Hair has thrown 21 touchdown passes without an interception through six games this season. LePage said both junior lineman Shane Gillmore and sophomore receiver/cornerback Jake Closser suffered broken fingers in last week's win, but both will be padded up and available to play tonight. Senior Seth DeWesplore suffered a left leg injury and will be out the rest of the season, LePage added.

Related Media: Blair Oaks Football Podcast [Southern Boone preview, Oct. 5, 2018]