KINGDOM CITY - For what probably turned out to be the tightest game in the Callaway Cup series, the turning point came less than 3 minutes after it started.
South Callaway's defense closed out a 20-12 victory over North Callaway on Friday night when it sacked Thunderbirds junior quarterback Milo Henry twice with less than a minute to play. The Bulldogs recovered a fourth-down fumble by Henry on the latter stop at the North Callaway 31-yard line with :15 left, and senior quarterback Ethan Livengood took a knee on the next play to take the clock to zero.
However, it took a glance back to the first possession of the night when South Callaway's special teams made an impactful play that would shape its seventh straight Callaway Cup victory. North Callaway was forced to punt from its own 16 after a three-and-out, and senior Manzell Payne set up near his goal line to kick.
Bulldogs junior wide receiver PJ Adams broke through the Thunderbirds' protection in front of Payne and managed to get his hand on the kick. Junior defensive back Brandon Ashley snatched the ball off the ground near the 1-yard line and dove into the end zone for the score.
Just like that, after junior Dakota Kraft's extra point, South Callaway was already up 7-0 with 9:12 still to play in the first quarter.
Bulldogs head coach Zack Hess and his North Callaway counterpart, Kevin O'Neal, both agreed that the stunning play ultimately defined the outcome.
"That was huge, that's the difference in the game," Hess said. "Any time you can get a big play on special teams, usually that's going to make a difference."
O'Neal explained that his players were charged up for the rivalry game, which possibly made them vulnerable at the outset.
"We might have been a little too emotionally up - there early on - and gave up that blocked punt for a touchdown," O'Neal said. "At the end of the game, that's the difference right there.
"We came out excited, we came out ready to play, and we didn't handle adversity there early on. That cost us."
The Thunderbirds trailed 20-6 entering the fourth quarter, but narrowed the gap when sophomore tight end Adam Reno scored on a 56-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-10 with 5:54 to play in the contest. Payne missed the extra-point attempt, leaving North Callaway's deficit at eight.
On the first play of South Callaway's next possession, sophomore quarterback Landon Horstman fumbled and North Callaway senior defensive lineman Nick Forgy recovered the ball at the Bulldogs' 41. Then on fourth-and-2 at the South Callaway 33, Henry's pass skipped off the outstretched fingers of junior wide receiver A.J. Stubblefield inside the 10 and the Bulldogs took over on downs.
The Thunderbirds forced South Callaway to punt and North Callaway got the ball back at its own 27 with 1:12 left. A 7-yard run by Henry and Stubblefield's 17-yard catch gave the Thunderbirds a first down at the Bulldogs' 48, but that was followed by an incomplete pass and a delay-of-game penalty against North Callaway.
South Callaway's defense then came up with its two sacks of Henry, stripping the ball on fourth down to extinguish the Thunderbirds' rally.
The victory was the fourth straight for the Bulldogs, who improved to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Eastern Missouri Conference.
"I'm glad it was entertaining, but it was very stressful on the sidelines," Hess said. "The community support and everybody that was here, cheering us on, it's great to give them a victory.
"Just for our players, it means a lot to them as well, so we're real happy that it happened that way."
North Callaway still has not won consecutive games this season, but has now lost two in a row for the first time. The Thunderbirds slipped to 2-4 on the season and 1-3 in the EMO.
"I'm very proud of the effort they gave," O'Neal said. "Now we have to fix all of those little things. We're going to watch film, we're going to analyze it and I'll bet we're going to see some little mistakes here and there, and we have to pay attention to detail.
"They gave the effort I wanted this week. ... We've got to put the whole package together and we've got a couple of weeks to get that figured out before we roll into districts."
Sophomore running back Kaden Helsel gained a team-high 66 yards and scored twice on 11 carries as South Callaway prevailed despite producing just 124 yards of total offense, including 119 rushing. Helsel's 13-yard touchdown run with :12 to go in the first half punctuated a 13-play, 70-yard drive that consumed 5:11 and gave the Bulldogs a 13-6 advantage at the break.
A North Callaway fumble set up Helsel's other touchdown, a 20-yard run with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter.
The Thunderbirds finished with 220 yards of total offense, 133 of that output coming from their running attack. Reno led the way with a game-high 70 yards rushing in just four attempts.
South Callaway remains on the road this week for an EMO matchup at winless Montgomery County. The Wildcats (0-6, 0-4) dropped a 77-63 conference shootout at Clopton/Elsberry on Friday night.
North Callaway's defense will try to slow the IndianHawks this week when the Thunderbirds travel to Clopton/Elsberry (2-4, 1-3).