Blair Oaks brings regular-season win streak to California

Blair Oaks sophomore linebacker Cade Stockman wraps up School of the Osage quarterback Dalton Depee for a tackle during last Friday's game at the Falcon Athletic Complex in Wardsville.
Blair Oaks sophomore linebacker Cade Stockman wraps up School of the Osage quarterback Dalton Depee for a tackle during last Friday's game at the Falcon Athletic Complex in Wardsville.

WARDSVILLE - The Blair Oaks football team is one win away from another perfect regular season. All that's standing in the way is the team that last beat the Falcons in regular-season play.

Blair Oaks takes its 37-game regular-season win streak on the road tonight against the California Pintos at Riley Field. Kickoff for the Tri-County Conference contest is at 7 p.m.

California (0-8, 0-6 Tri-County) is coming off a 55-16 loss to then-Class 3 No. 9 Southern Boone. The Pintos have lost 17-of-18 games the past two seasons.

One of the bright spots this season for the Pintos has been junior quarterback Alex Currens, who leads the team with 413 yards rushing to go with his 662 yards passing.

"He does a good job of operating what they're doing," Blair Oaks coach Ted LePage said. "They've gone to more of a spread look here the last couple of weeks, and he does a good job of distributing the ball. Where he's most dangerous is his improvising."

However, Currens will not be taking snaps in tonight's game. He is serving a one-game suspension after making a helmet-to-helmet hit in last Friday's loss that resulted in his ejection from the game.

Taking his place is sophomore Hunter Oliver, who filled in for an injured Currens last month against Versailles. Oliver has thrown for 79 yards this season with two interceptions.

With Currens out, junior running back Logan Parish will bear most of the workload in the backfield. Parish has 55 carries for 232 yards and one touchdown.

"He's electric, he's very fast," LePage said. "Against Southern Boone, there were several times they had him bottled up, and he was able to come out and make something out of nothing. He's a guy you've really got to rally the football around."

Senior running back Alex Meisenheimer (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) has 300 yards rushing on just 19 carries. He ended Southern Boone's hope of a shutout by returning a kickoff for a touchdown. He also has one rushing and one receiving touchdown, leading the Pintos with three scores.

"He tries to make every play," LePage said. "On a punt return or kickoff return, he tries to get in space and make you miss."

The Pintos have another weapon in senior Trystan Hees (6-3, 225) with their spread offense. Hees has a team-high 308 yards receiving on just eight catches with two touchdowns.

"You look at him and you think, 'OK, that's a big guy, they're going to work behind him,'" LePage said. "But no, he can go out and catch the ball."

Despite their offensive weapons, the Pintos are averaging just 10 points per game and have been shut out three times this season. Nearly half their points came in a 46-35 Homecoming loss last month to Eldon.

One of the reasons for California's struggles is turnovers. This season, the Pintos have thrown 10 interceptions and have fumbled the ball 16 times. They had four turnovers - three interceptions and one fumble - in last week's defeat.

"Sometimes they just do things that hurt themselves," LePage said. "When they're on all cylinders, they have a very effective offense and a very effective defense. But it just seems like something goes wrong and they can't bounce back from whatever went wrong."

Defensively, LePage said the Pintos have spent the past few games with a three-man front after beginning the season with a four-man front.

"They're attacking every snap," LePage said. "They're trying to do something to create some havoc on the other side. We have to be careful that we're blocking our areas and blocking our zones, because they're very aggressive defensively."

Senior linebacker Nick Althoff (6-0, 185) and Meisenheimer, a free safety, are tied for the team lead with 46 tackles. Senior Nathan Pickering has team-highs of three sacks and two fumble recoveries.

Sophomore lineman Garrett Burger (6-2, 200) also has 40 tackles for the Pintos.

"Their linebacking corps flows good from side to side," LePage said. "They stop things right at them.

"Their interior defense seems to be the strongest when people are going right at them."

California is allowing an average of 40.1 points per game, while Blair Oaks (8-0, 6-0 Tri-County) is scoring 48.4 points per contest.

Falcons quarterback Nolan Hair has been perfect through the air in each of the past two games, totaling 18-of-18 passing for 487 yards and five touchdowns. This season, he has 1,916 yards passing with 26 touchdowns and no interceptions.

"He was out (of practice) a couple days last week with illness, so having him back full speed has added pep to practice," LePage said.

Blair Oaks may experience déj vu as the district playoffs begin next week.

Heading into tonight's game, the Falcons are positioned in the No. 1 spot in the Class 2 District 5 standings with 55.14 points, nearly 11 points ahead of No. 2 South Callaway.

Even if California - No. 8 in the district with 22.45 points - were to pull off the upset tonight, the Pintos are locked in at that last seed. Hallsville is No. 7, and the Indians own a head-to-head tiebreaker after defeating the Pintos 49-0 two weeks ago.

The last time Blair Oaks played the same opponent in back-to-back weeks was 2015, when the Falcons routed the Versailles Tigers by identical 70-0 scores in the regular-season finale and district opener.

"Each week is a different game," said LePage, who experienced the same situation in 2013 when the Jefferson City Jays played back-to-back weeks against Rock Bridge. "There are things that happen in a football game that are beyond your control.

"We have to take care of us, stop worrying about everything we can't control and just worry about what we can control."

III

Blair Oaks stayed put at No. 2 in Class 2 in this week's Missouri Media Rankings. Following last Friday's 59-7 win against School of the Osage, the Falcons received one addition point in the rankings and earned 106 out of a possible 120 points from the 12 voters. The last time Blair Oaks lost a regular-season game was Oct. 3, 2014, at California. The Pintos won 21-10 and went on to claim the Tri-County Conference title. Nolan Hair's next touchdown pass will give him a school-record 89 career touchdown passes. He is currently tied for the career mark with his older brother, Jordan Hair. LePage said junior linebacker Kamron Morriss was cleared to practice Tuesday and will return tonight after missing last Friday's game with a groin injury. Senior Corban Bonnett suffered a broken finger that required surgery. LePage said Bonnett will miss tonight's game, but he is likely to return for next week's district opener. Sophomore Carson Bax and junior Adam Jurgensmeyer will fill in for Bonnett at left offensive tackle tonight.

Related Media: Blair Oaks Football Podcast [California preview, Oct. 19, 2018]