Cory Hanger casually walked toward the South Callaway sideline, ignoring the punt he didn't need to pick up.
With the extraordinary night Hanger had already enjoyed, and the state-ranked Bulldogs sailing toward another punishing victory, he could afford to allow the ball to tumble downfield as the clock ticked down to zero at halftime.
"I kind of figured we'll just end on a good note," Hanger said.
South Callaway's speedy senior slot receiver and free safety scored a spectacular six touchdowns in the first half Friday night, in all different methods, and the top-seeded Bulldogs hammered No. 4 seed Hallsville 61-0 in the Class 2, District 7 semifinals.
The buzz can now begin to build for next Friday night's showdown between a pair of 11-0 teams for the District 7 championship when South Callaway - ranked third in the state - hosts No. 2 seed and seventh-ranked Lafayette County.
The Huskers fulfilled their role in setting up the much-anticipated title game by easily dismissing No. 6 seed Cole Camp 53-14 in Friday night's other semifinal.
"They're very athletic ... so it's going to be a great game," Bulldogs head coach Tim Rulo said of Lafayette County. "You're just going to have a lot of athletes on this field. It should be a lot of fun to watch."
Hanger will be one of those prominent skill players and he showed off his big-strike capability on all six touchdowns Friday night. He scored on runs of 28 and 51 yards, caught touchdown passes of 43 and 37 yards from senior quarterback Troy Hentges, ran back a punt 74 yards for a score and then returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown.
The punt return was Hanger's fifth for a score this season, while he posted the South Callaway defense's 10th touchdown.
Hanger passed along most of the credit to his teammates for opening up paths for him to dart through.
"I guess I just had a good night to catch fire, but a lot of it had to do with great blocking," Hanger said. "There were three or four of those plays where, clearly, I just had to run straight and pretty much just put the jets on.
"... A lot of it has to do with the team; we're playing great as a team right now. It's fun right now."
Rulo noted that Hanger profited from the involvement of his offensive and defensive partners with the Bulldogs.
"Everyone's got to pull on the rope together and he just happens to be the guy who ends up in the end zone first with the ball," Rulo said, "but it's all those 10 other guys (teammates) who are running after him."
Hanger accounted for almost half (204) of South Callaway's 440 net yards on offense. He ran the ball just three times for 86 yards and his two catches went for a combined 122 yards. Hentges finished 6-of-8 passing for 200 yards and his four touchdown throws included connections of 4 and 37 yards to senior wide receiver Dylan Hare.
"I felt like we were able to do a lot of great things there offensively," Rulo said. "... We were able to throw the ball some, we were able to run the ball some, we were able to do it in multiple ways, it wasn't just one thing.
"That diversity and flexibility makes it more difficult - you've got to defend everyone, you just can't defend one guy."
The Bulldogs' whirlwind defense continued to create more chaos against a Hallsville offensive unit that played without senior quarterback Joey Forge, who left the Indians' 21-17 quarterfinal win over No. 5 seed Father Tolton last week with an ankle injury.
With Forge out and Hallsville (8-3) having to go with a freshman - Graham Moser - at quarterback, South Callaway intensified its pressure, forcing the Indians into committing five turnovers while surrendering a scant 16 net yards. The shutout was the Bulldogs' fourth in the last five games.
South Callaway basically eliminated Hallsville's running game, which ended up at a deficit with minus-16 yards. Senior running back Skyler Creed - who came into Friday night's matchup averaging 136.4 yards on 22.3 carries - managed just 41 yards on only 13 touches.
"Our defensive coaching staff and players put in so much time to prepare for that, and they fly around - and they swarm and punish," Rulo said. "That's their mantra and that's kind of their credo, and they do a great job with it."