Montgomery County devoted its defensive resources to diminishing North Callaway's run game.
Much to the Wildcats' dismay, Cole Branson and company competently preyed on them by taking the other route for the Thunderbirds.
North Callaway's senior quarterback passed for 329 yards and five touchdowns - distributing them between four different receivers - and the No. 3 seed Thunderbirds pulled away in the second half for a 48-24 triumph over No. 6 Montgomery County in the Class 2, District 6 quarterfinals Friday night.
"We had to make a couple of adjustments; they (Wildcats) were definitely in the box, trying to take away our running game," North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "We had to adjust to that, and Cole Branson and the receivers - all of them, every one of them - did a good job of making plays when they had to."
The Thunderbirds (6-4) - taking control by outscoring Montgomery County 26-12 in the second half - will get to remain at home for next Friday night's District 6 semifinal matchup against No. 3 seed Palmyra (6-4). The Panthers moved on with a convincing 41-0 victory over No. 6 seed Clark County on Friday night.
"Palmyra is a good football program," O'Neal said. "They're very solid defensively, and offensively - I guess - they got some things done tonight. We're going to have to prepare and we've got our work cut out for us."
North Callaway's job, at least on the offensive side, was made more challenging Friday night when Montgomery County limited the Thunderbirds to a season-low 39 yards rushing on only 17 carries. North Callaway was coming off a prolific 405-yard performance on the ground the previous week in a 40-30 home win over Van-Far.
The Thunderbirds also gained 202 yards in their 27-23 comeback victory at Montgomery County on Sept. 12.
O'Neal noted that the Wildcats' defense was able to impede running lanes Friday night.
"They were blitzing the linebackers and they were loading guys up in the box, attacking every gap that we had there," O'Neal said. "You draw it (run plays) up on paper and it looks good, but sometimes whenever they're bringing more than we can block, we had to adjust and go to the passing game.
"We did that, and it worked for us."
Branson wasn't exactly sharp at the start, misfiring on four of his first five passes. But on North Callaway's third series, pinned deep in his own territory, Branson hooked up with his brother - sophomore wide receiver Wyatt - on a 13-yard connection.
Two plays later, the siblings paired up again when Wyatt accelerated past single coverage down the right seam and pulled in a pass from Cole for a 77-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown. Wyatt then lobbed a pass to senior tight end Trevor Crisp for the two-point conversion, putting the Thunderbirds up 8-6 with 2 minutes, 5 seconds left in the first quarter.
North Callaway never trailed again.
Cole Branson proceeded to complete 11 straight passes. After that string was interrupted midway through the fourth quarter, Branson came back on the next play and hit sophomore wide receiver A.J. Stubblefield on their second touchdown connection of the night - this one covering 31 yards to help stretch North Callaway's lead to 48-18 with 6:40 to play.
Branson's other touchdown pass to Stubblefield went for 32 yards at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter and sent the Thunderbirds into halftime with a 22-12 advantage. Branson also delivered touchdown passes of 6 and 58 yards, respectively, to freshman wide receiver Austin Edwards and Crisp in the third quarter.
Branson, who wasn't sacked or intercepted, finished 13-of-18 passing. For good measure, he also scored on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter and then - from his cornerback spot on defense - returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter.
Wyatt Branson ended up with three catches for a game-high 96 yards, while junior wide receiver Tyler Mattes also had three grabs for 91 yards. Stubblefield's two touchdown receptions totalled 63 yards and Crisp had two catches for 62 yards.
"We probably knew that they were going to try to shut down the run game, which is fine," Cole Branson said. "We have some great receivers and they can run some good routes.
"They stacked the box, so we just went ahead and passed. (The receivers) ran hard routes and they got open. Our line blocked great for us; without them, we can't do anything."
O'Neal explained that as Branson showed more faith in himself at the line of scrimmage, it allowed him to excel with his throws.
"He did a much better job of reading the defenses - pre-snap - and making a decision, and being confident in the decision that he made," O'Neal said. "We talked about that after that first series, after he struggled a little bit early on, and his confidence shot up.
"Our offensive line did a great job of protecting him up front, too."
In next Friday night's other District 6 semifinal encounter, top-seeded Bowling Green (8-2) will host No. 5 Van-Far (5-5). Bowling Green trampled No. 7 seed Highland 72-7 on Friday night, while Van-Far edged No. 4 Clopton/Elsberry 26-24.