Blair Oaks prepares for a state championship rematch

WARDSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

The last time Blair Oaks and Maryville met on the football field, the Falcons walked away with the Class 3 state championship. For the fourth-straight season the Falcons and the Spoofhounds will open up play against each other.

Head coach Ted Lepage has captured three titles as Blair Oaks' head coach, in 2004, 2018, and 2020. However, each season he and his team hit the restart button.

"It was nice winning that state championship last year, but that doesn't affect anything this year. It's just new stuff that we have to get through," senior right tackle Griffin Hearst said.

Lepage said with seven returning starters on offense and four on defense, he gets the feeling his guys have a chip on their shoulder, wanting to pick up where the previous group left off.

"I really appreciate that there's a, and I don't say that in a bad way, I don't think it's a bad chip, but it's a chip that I'm very interested to see where it leads," he said. "The work has been really precise out of these guys. They are looking to be exactly right every day."

The list of returning starters includes quarterback Dylan Hair. The junior is the third-straight Hair brother to lead the Falcons under center. Lepage said the youngest Hair, Dylan, is making a difference.

"He is still not a vocal guy, that's just not his style. But, what he does that adds something to our team that I cannot replace is that he runs scout team every day," he said. "When you take the 3A player of the year and you put him on a scout team, he does stuff that one guy will make our whole defense work."

Blair Oaks will kick off the 2021-2022 season on August 27, at home, against Maryville.