KINGDOM CITY, Mo. - On a blustery night, it took the North Callaway Thunderbirds' defense a little bit to overcome a tepid opening.
State-ranked North Callaway quickly corrected itself, forcing three turnovers to set up scores and posting five sacks as the top-seeded Thunderbirds hammered the No. 5 Hallsville Indians 46-8 in the Class 2, District 5 semifinals Friday night.
"I don't know that we made a whole lot of (defensive) adjustments there, I think we just came out flat to start the game off," North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "Hallsville, I'll give them credit, they came out to play a football game, they had a good game plan going in.
"We came out flat and that's something that we can't do, but I'm very proud of my kids on how we responded after we talked to them about our intensity and how we're playing."
The emphatic victory sets up what will be an eagerly-anticipated Callaway Cup rivalry rematch between the host Thunderbirds (10-1) - ranked No. 7 in Class 2 - and No. 10 South Callaway (10-1) for the District 5 title next Friday night. The No. 2 seed Bulldogs advanced with a 21-7 win over No. 6 Father Tolton in Friday night's other District 5 semifinal in Mokane.
North Callaway edged South Callaway in a dramatic 33-29 victory Sept. 8 in Kingdom City, stopping a seven-game losing streak in the Callaway Cup series. Both schools will enter the District 5 championship on a tear - the Thunderbirds own a 10-game winning streak and the Bulldogs have won seven straight.
"It's awesome, it's what we've worked for," O'Neal said. "These kids have worked their tails off to get to this point and we've just got to continue getting better.
"I've got a lot of respect for the South Callaway coaching staff and those kids over there. It should be another exciting football game and we're looking forward to the challenge again."
North Callaway seemed to be in for a battle with Hallsville at the outset Friday night. The Thunderbirds were a quick three-and-out on the game's first series and the Indians countered by moving 45 yards in nine plays inside North Callaway's 20-yard line.
Sophomore running back Mason Huskey appeared to score on a 14-yard run on third down, but Hallsville was called for holding. After an incomplete pass, Indians junior quarterback Zane Parnell was sacked for a 9-yard loss and the Thunderbirds took over at their own 25.
A first-down pass from junior quarterback Tully Thomsen to junior running back Jordan Delashmutt in the right flat went for 30 yards to the Hallsville 36. Six plays later, senior running back Adam Reno punched in a 1-yard-touchdown run to put North Callaway on top with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.
The Indians came right back with a 10-play, 77-yard drive that carried them to the Thunderbirds' 4. However, on second down, Parnell fumbled and Delashmutt - from his inside linebacker position - recovered the ball at the 6.
Three plays later, Reno continued what would prove to be a record-tying performance by racing 77 yards for a touchdown. Sophomore running back Bradley Berry added the two-point conversion run to make it 14-0 at the 6:48 mark of the second quarter.
The missed chances sucked the energy out of the Hallsville offense. On the Indians' next possession, North Callaway senior inside linebacker Tanner Pezold picked off a Parnell fourth-down pass near midfield and returned it to the Hallsville 27.
Three plays later, Reno scored from 12 yards out with 3:24 to go. His 7-yard touchdown run with :57 remaining sent the Thunderbirds into halftime with a 27-0 edge.
North Callaway sophomore backup linebacker Mason Wortmann then recovered a fumble in the third quarter, helping set up a Reno 4-yard touchdown run with 8:00 to play in the third quarter.
After the Indians gouged the Thunderbirds for 101 yards rushing combined on their first two possessions, North Callaway surrendered just 87 yards on the ground for the rest of the game. Parnell completed only 7-of-15 passes for 46 yards and the one interception.
"I think the biggest part of that (early defensive issues) is probably speed that we haven't seen in a while," O'Neal said. "It took a little bit for us to get adjusted to that speed and bring our intensity up a little bit.
"They did a great job, once we got it figured out and we changed our alignments just a little bit. Our defense has played well all year - we didn't start well, but we played well once we got going tonight."
Reno equalled a school single-game record when he added his sixth touchdown on a 15-yard run with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter. Reno produced another extraordinary effort with a game-high 196 yards rushing on 17 carries and contributed a 25-yard reception.
Delashmutt was responsible for the Thunderbirds' other score on a 34-yard touchdown burst at the 8:43 mark of the third quarter. He finished with 73 yards rushing on just four carries and had two catches for 41 yards.
"Adam is what Adam is - he does a great job, he's our workhorse," O'Neal said. "He came over a couple of times, he and Jordan both, and said, 'Coach, we don't want to end tonight, we want to play next week.'
"They kind of, offensively, got us going and took the team on their back - Jordan catching that ball in the flat and then Adam took control running the football, and our line made some adjustments up front.