SportsZone Football Friday Game of the Week Preview: Hallsville at Blair Oaks

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Tri-County conference title will be decided on the final week of the regular season.

Blair Oaks has claimed 10 of the last 11 conference crowns. The only team to take them down in that stretch, is set to line up across from them, hoping to do it again. Hallsville will look to defeat the Falcons and claim their first championship since 2021.

"Whenever I took over the program here three years ago, this is what we envisioned," said Hallsville coach Paul Stevens. "This is what we want to be year in and year out; competing for a conference championship, and not just being middle of the pack or bottom of the barrel."

With just a few short years at the helm, coach Stevens has turned this program into a conference contender. As much as the students want the rebuild to happen overnight, he understood that it could take several years, and is now feeling the benefits of that.

"There were a lot of players that graduated the year before I got here. We were kind of in a tough position year one having to play a lot of young kids," said Stevens. "So now the byproduct of it, is they're seniors and juniors now playing and producing and helping us win football games."

This season, the key to the Indian's success has been playing physical ball and dominating the trenches. Hallsville has been a force running the ball throughout the season, and coach Stevens contributes that success to the leadership of the senior class.

"Whenever you see these seniors play, the things that always sticks out to me, and the thing I always hear from people who watch is how hard they play. The thing that will always stick out is how hard the seniors play is those guys will give absolute 100% effort and I'm really proud of that."

But if the Indians was to bring the Tri-County crown back to Hallsville, they'll need to take down one of the most impressive units the state has seen in the past few years.

"This is a game that, as the week wears on, I don't say much to the team," said Blair Oaks head coach Ted LePage. "They know that smell, they know what's at stake. The only thing I've said is have fun, and this is why you play football."

After suffering their first loss in nearly two years in week one, the Falcons have stormed back to the top of the league, rattling off seven straight wins.

"The thing I've really noticed about our team is the trust that is going from player to player, from side to side," said LePage. "Earlier this year, I think everybody wanted to trust the player beside them, but maybe were questioning it just a little bit. But We've figured out what our identity is as a team and our trust level is off the charts."

Since that opening loss, the focus for coach LePage and company has been to use each game as a stepping stone to ensure they are playing their best football by the time the post season rolls around.

"We could be 0-9. But if we go into the district and we're playing our best football, that's where we want to get to. It doesn't matter what the outcomes are, it matters what we are putting into the process."

Blair Oaks will get to play the conference title decider on their own field. The Indians and Falcons are set to kick off to decide the Tri-County champion on Oct. 23, at 7:00 p.m.