BOWLING GREEN - North Callaway's defense hounded Bowling Green for three quarters, surrendering a sparse 45 total yards while sacking Bobcats senior quarterback Jacob Feldmann nine times and intercepting him twice.
With the Thunderbirds dealing with their own offensive difficulties, North Callaway's defensive unit - courtesy of a safety on a Feldmann sack in the end zone in the second quarter - guarded a tenuous 2-0 edge to that point.
That battering display in muggy conditions, though, eventually sapped the Thunderbirds on the defensive side. Bowling Green finally broke through to produce all of its scoring over the final 12 minutes, bringing down North Callaway 22-10 in the Eastern Missouri Conference opener for both schools Friday night.
Despite the fourth-quarter stumble, Thunderbirds head coach Kevin O'Neal believed that his defense deserved a better outcome.
"This is the third week in a row - I can't say enough about those guys ...," O'Neal said. "They played with heart, they played with passion, they gave it everything they had.
"For three and three-fourths of the game, man, we shut them down. They just busted a couple of long ones and got to us there at the end, but I can't say enough about how proud I am of our defense."
North Callaway (1-2) constantly had Feldmann fidgeting, sacking him an astounding 12 times overall for losses totalling 84 yards. The Thunderbirds also bottled up the Bobcats' running game, which ended up in the negative with minus-27 yards on 36 combined carries.
"We just did a great job up front," O'Neal said. "We moved (seniors) Lance Starkey and George Jones on the inside of that defense, and those guys shut down the inside. Then with (junior) Wyatt (Branson) and (senior) J.T. (Higgins) on the outside, we had a little bit of speed out there.
"(Senior) Nick Forgy does an excellent job of blitzing and (freshman) Jordan Delashmit, an excellent job of reading plays and getting where he needs to be. ... Part of that, too, was our coverage on the backside, with the quarterback not seeing anything open and giving us time to get to him, as well."
After North Callaway's defense delivered a fourth-down stand inside its own 15-yard line at the outset of the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds immediately gave the ball back to Bowling Green (2-1) two plays later. Junior quarterback Milo Henry was hit and fumbled, and the Bobcats recovered the ball at the North Callaway 15.
Feldmann connected with junior tight end Beau Brandt for a 13-yard gain, then scored on a 2-yard keeper with 10 minutes, 15 seconds left in the game. Feldman also ran in the two-point conversion to put Bowling Green on top 8-2.
The Thunderbirds then went three-and-out and the Bobcats profited from a short punt to extend their lead. Feldmann found senior wide receiver Kaleb Worley in the middle of the North Callaway defense on the first play, and Worley did the rest on a 33-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown with 8:18 to go.
Feldmann - who completed only 7-of-16 passes with the two interceptions, but threw for 179 yards - added the two-point conversion on another run.
Henry was finally able to get the Thunderbirds moving on offense to close the gap. He quickly completed four straight passes, the latter covering 25 yards to sophomore tight end Adam Reno for a score with 6:27 remaining. Senior running back Tyler Mattes - playing for the first time this season - tacked on the two-point conversion to pull North Callaway within 16-10.
The Thunderbirds appeared to regain the momentum when they forced a three-and-out and took over at Bowling Green's 47 after the punt. However, Henry was sacked for a 7-yard loss and then threw an interception along the North Callaway sideline at the Bobcats' 46.
Bowling Green sealed its victory when senior running back Kaeden Jenkins took a direct snap on fourth-and-two and raced up the middle for a 33-yard touchdown with 1:29 to play.
The Thunderbirds had their own problems in keeping a clean pocket for Henry, who was sacked eight times. He was just 6-of-15 passing for only 62 yards and two interceptions. North Callaway's running game also stalled, managing a mere 46 yards on 36 total carries.
The Thunderbirds wasted excellent scoring chances on their first two possessions of the third quarter, turning the ball over on downs at the Bobcats' 27 and 24, respectively.
"We've got to shore some stuff up on our offensive line," O'Neal said. "Our center got hurt earlier in the year and we lost our right tackle last week, and we've had a lot of injuries and a lot of shuffling around going on up there. ...
"They're not too sure about what's going on, and that brings discomfort to everybody else on the offense, too. We've got to get those five guys shored up and playing better football on every snap, and then the comfort will come from Milo and everybody else."
North Callaway will look to regroup this week when it plays its homecoming game against neighboring EMO rival Montgomery County. The Wildcats tumbled to 0-3 after being walloped by Wright City 52-7 in their conference opener Friday night.
"We can't worry about what happened tonight now," O'Neal said. "It's "right here, right now' we talk about all the time, so it's the next game up. We've got to come in ready to work next week."