Football: Bulldogs turn back T-Birds in another tight finish

South Callaway will face No. 1 Blair Oaks in District 5 title game

South Callaway junior linebacker Cole Shoemaker wraps up North Callaway senior running back Jordan Delashmutt during Friday night's Class 2, District 5 semifinal showdown in Mokane. The Bulldogs held off the Thunderbirds in a 14-6 victory, sending South Callaway to the District 5 championship at No. 1-ranked Blair Oaks next Friday night in Wardsville
South Callaway junior linebacker Cole Shoemaker wraps up North Callaway senior running back Jordan Delashmutt during Friday night's Class 2, District 5 semifinal showdown in Mokane. The Bulldogs held off the Thunderbirds in a 14-6 victory, sending South Callaway to the District 5 championship at No. 1-ranked Blair Oaks next Friday night in Wardsville

MOKANE - There was drama, to a lesser degree, but it was draped in a defensive battle.

South Callaway converted a fourth-down stop and an interception into a pair of touchdown runs by senior quarterback Peyton Leeper as the Bulldogs scraped past the North Callaway Thunderbirds again in a 14-6 win in the Class 2, District 5 semifinals Friday night.

The victory was the 10th in a row for No. 2 seed South Callaway (10-1), which will play for the District 5 championship for the second straight year. The Bulldogs also swept North Callaway after escaping with a 33-32 overtime victory over the Thunderbirds in the annual Callaway Cup rivalry game Oct. 19 in Mokane.

"To me, this kind of epitomizes good playoff football," South Callaway head coach Zack Hess said of Friday night's win. "It was good teams that like to run the ball and play good defense, that just matched up with each other.

"Fortunately, we were able to get a couple of big takeaways. I think that was the difference in the game."

No. 3 seed North Callaway - which defeated the Bulldogs 38-20 for the District 5 title in 2017 - ended its season with a 7-4 record.

"It was a heckuva football game," Thunderbirds head coach Kevin O'Neal said of Friday night's clash. "South Callaway did a good job, but our kids came out and played hard. Our seniors led us, definitely tonight - they worked their tails off all week.

"South Callaway just made a few more plays than we did. That's how the game goes. We played Thunderbird football tonight and we played our hearts out, and I couldn't ask any more from our kids."

The Bulldogs were guarding a tenuous 7-6 lead when South Callaway senior cornerback Drake Davidson intercepted a pass by North Callaway junior quarterback Jadon Henry at the Thunderbirds' 38-yard line with 5 minutes, 52 seconds left in the game. The pass was tipped by junior outside linebacker Nick Mealy and Davidson came up with the grab.

Five plays later, Leeper slipped through a seam at the line of scrimmage on third-and-8 and sprinted 30 yards for a touchdown. Senior kicker Tyklen Salmons knocked through the extra point to give South Callaway an eight-point advantage with 3:35 to go.

"That was essentially the game," Hess said. "Nick Mealy had a great pass drop there (on the interception), got in the (passing) window and got a hand on the ball, then Drake did an awesome job just finding the ball and making a play.

"Even if we didn't score on that subsequent series, we were able to eat some clock. That was huge for us."

North Callaway had one last chance to try to tie the game and force more overtime thrills. However, Henry was sacked for a 6-yard loss on fourth down at the Thunderbirds' 33 with :17 remaining.

North Callaway got off to a strong start, turning to some trickery on the game's opening possession to take a quick lead. The Thunderbirds reached South Callaway's 28 on a 32-yard strike from Henry to senior wide receiver Dawson Wright, but then faced a fourth-and-12.

Henry tossed a lateral to Wright, who then found sophomore running back Cody Cash all alone down the North Callaway sideline for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 8:54 to play in the first quarter. The Thunderbirds failed on the two-point conversion attempt, leaving them with a 6-0 advantage.

"Against a defense like South Callaway, who's very aggressive, you've got to come up with a couple of those plays," O'Neal said. "Some counters or some different type of plays where you can get them flying to the football like they do, and sneak somebody in behind them.

"That's a play we worked on this week a little bit and we executed it well."

The Bulldogs came right back with a 12-play, 49-yard drive that carried them to the North Callaway 1. On fourth down, though, Leeper was tackled short of the goal line and the Thunderbirds took over.

"That could have been a big mental blow for us," Hess said. "Our guys rallied and they didn't lose heart - they kept fighting. That was disappointing because when you get that close to the end zone, you expect to punch it in."

North Callaway's offense was on the move again midway through the second quarter, just beyond midfield, when it was confronted with a risky decision. O'Neal opted to go for it on fourth-and-9 at the South Callaway 43, but the gamble didn't work this time as Henry's pass floated over the outstretched hands of Cash, who was uncovered near the Thunderbirds' sideline.

"That was definitely on me," O'Neal said. "I thought we had the hitch route on the outside. I think it was open, we just had some pressure in our (Henry's) face and didn't deliver a good ball there."

"Jadon Henry played his heart out tonight, worked hard with pressure in his face quite a bit. I thought that route was there, and it was, we just didn't quite execute it."

The Bulldogs didn't need long to profit and put themselves in front. Five plays later, Leeper bolted 43 yards for the touchdown and Salmons' PAT gave South Callaway a 7-6 lead with 2:58 left until halftime.

"That is a big mental, just kind of a sigh of relief on our part," Hess said. "When you see the scoreboard and they're ahead, it does something to your psyche.

"When you get that first score and you're able to see the scoreboard change, it just gives you a little momentum, a little juice to dig down deep and keep working."

The Bulldogs now get ready for the ultimate test when they travel to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Blair Oaks (11-0) for the District 5 championship next Friday night in Wardsville. The Falcons easily advanced to the title game by battering No. 4 seed Father Tolton 70-6 on Friday night.

"It will be a great opportunity for us to see how we play with the big dogs - the best team in mid-Missouri, Class 2," Hess said. "Hopefully we can play clean football and give great effort, and just see what happens.

"That's the message to those guys next week, that it's an opportunity to slay the giant - there's a lot of metaphors there that we could use."