KINGDOM CITY, Mo. - One play. The common thread that could be woven through each installment of the North Callaway Thunderbirds' recent five-game surge is the presence of that sizable offensive gain to really break things open.
Friday night's Class 2, District 5 opener against the visiting Father Tolton Trailblazers saw no such scoring strike in a game where North Callaway, seemingly, had to have it to make a valiant second-half defensive performance stand up. The fifth-seeded Trailblazers corked the No. 4 Thunderbirds' blistering offense, holding it to a season-low point total and pulling away for a 31-14 triumph.
North Callaway finished its season with a 7-3 record. Tolton (5-5) - which has won four in a row - travels to top-seeded Brentwood (8-1) for a District 5 semifinal this week. The Eagles pummeled No. 8 seed Principia 54-7 on Friday night.
"Our kids made plays, we just couldn't make that big play offensively that we've gotten the last five weeks," Thunderbirds head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "Give credit to Tolton for taking away some things we wanted to do."
North Callaway's defense - allowing a scant 10.6 points per game in the last five outings - was in an 18-8 halftime hole. Midway through the third quarter, the Trailblazers had a second-and-9 on the Thunderbirds' 44-yard line.
A fumbled exchange between Trailblazers junior quarterback Steven Devine and his ball carrier squirted into the Tolton backfield. The ball found its way into the hands of North Callaway sophomore linebacker Jordan Delashmutt, who scooped it up and scampered 45 yards for a touchdown.
The break drew the Thunderbirds within 18-14 with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the quarter.
Delashmutt paced North Callaway with 13 tackles.
"He's the leader of our defense and I think, defensively, all those guys on that side of the ball played their tails off in the second half," O'Neal said.
The Trailblazers coughed the ball up on North Callaway's side of the 50 on their next possession. Senior defensive lineman Isaac Wright separated Tolton sophomore back Ben Breitwiser from the ball on a third-and-8 and pounced on the fumble at the Thunderbirds' 37 to put North Callaway in business with :52 to go in the quarter.
The Thunderbirds' defense yielded just 120 yards in the final 24 minutes.
"Not really a whole lot of adjustments (were made) at halftime," he said. "Just making sure we fit where we were supposed to be fitting and playing hard on that side of the ball, and giving maximum effort each time. I felt like our kids did that."
North Callaway pushed all the way down to the Trailblazer' 25 on their next series, which stretched into the opening moments of the fourth quarter. The drive ended when senior quarterback Milo Henry was unable to convert a fourth-and-6 with 8:20 remaining.
Tolton punted four plays later, but North Callaway's offense - again - stalled when Tolton senior defensive lineman Luke Campbell sacked Henry on a fourth-and-7 with 4:29 to go.
The Thunderbirds got the ball back with 3:00 remaining, but were pinned at their 29 after Trailblazers junior defensive end Zac Schachtner sacked Henry for a 12-yard loss. Two plays later, Henry wiggled away from the Tolton rush, broke to his right and found junior running back Adam Reno by himself for the first down.
But Trailblazers junior defensive back Carson McCarty forced and recovered a Reno fumble, thwarting North Callaway's last best chance.
"(Henry) made a great play there, Adam made a great catch, but the ball didn't bounce our way that time," O'Neal said. "Tolton made more plays than we did tonight."
The Thunderbirds' defense, pitching a second-half shutout to that point, didn't hold up as McCarty sprang loose for a 58-yard touchdown run on the next play. That stretched Tolton's lead to 24-14 with 1:12 remaining.
The Trailblazers capitalized on North Callaway's fifth turnover of the night when the Thunderbirds fumbled on their next offensive play. Tolton junior running back Patrick Edwards scored from 3 yards out to produce the final margin with :17 to go.
Devine hit on 8-of-18 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and paced Tolton with 78 yards rushing and one score in 15 attempts.
Devine opened the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal with :35 left in the first quarter. He pushed the Trailblazers' edge to 12-0 on a 31-yard scoring pass to junior wide receiver Clay Galloway with 8:54 to play in the second quarter.
Reno trotted in for an 8-yard touchdown and added the two-point conversion to bring North Callaway within 12-8 with 3:05 remaining in the half. There would be no repeat of last week's 252-yard, five-score blitz as Reno - who led all players with 80 yards receiving on six catches - rushed for just 23 yards on only four carries.
"They were controlling the line of scrimmage - we had some blocking scheme issues up there, but we just couldn't break the long run," O'Neal said. "He ran the ball hard, (senior running back) Wyatt (Branson) ran the ball hard, but like you said, we couldn't come up with the big play that we usually do."
Henry picked up some of the rushing slack, posting a game-high 108 yards on 13 carries. He finished 13-of-23 passing for 114 yards and three interceptions.
The Thunderbirds finished with their best record in O'Neal's three seasons at the helm. One play, though, might have elongated the campaign for at least another week, though.
"We didn't want to lose this game, but I'm proud of my team this year," O'Neal said. "I can't say enough about my senior class - they did a great job leading this team this year and we're going to miss those guys."