Owen Ziliak

Thirteen weeks of blowouts led up to a final face off between Blair Oaks and Lamar in the MSHSAA Class 2A State Championship. People in Wardsville clamored throughout the week to prepare to send their high school football team to Faurot Field in Columbia, the University of Missouri’s stadium. The cheerleaders practiced and made signs, parents lined Route B to wave off the team and students at the elementary, intermediate and high school filled the stands at Faurot Field to watch the Falcons take home their third state title in five years.

Avery Schoeneberg, left, and Zoe Brightwell were given the high-pressure task of shopping for additional supplies to make signs for the Friday morning send-off. The two made off with some glue and letters, returning with just under $5 in change. 

In cheer, focus is the difference between your teammate landing with grace, or landing with a thud. A plethora of hands are required to keep even one person in the air steady. 

Cheerleading really is as hard as it looks. After performing their last routine of practice in preparation for the game and their own state competition the next week, junior Jaelynn Schaefer laid down to rest on the auditorium floor. 

Over a dozen Blair Oaks students crowded the hall outside of math teacher and cheer coach Mrs. Lackman’s room. The cheer team helped organize the sign making party. Most made sure to color within the lines. 

Sophomore cheerleader Avery Schoeneberg aided in the sign-making process by providing entertainment in the form of putting a cone on her head while the football team watched film to prep for the game

While the Blair Oaks elementary, intermediate and high school students went outside of their respective schools, parents of the players lined Route B to send off the football team as they made their way out of Wardsville and towards Columbia. 

The two yellow school buses, one filled with seniors and starters and the second with the rest of the varsity roster, were escorted by police cars, a fire truck and an ambulance.

There is no lack of school spirit among Blair Oaks students, especially the younger ones, who will line up on the railings to watch the Falcons run on to the field and reach for high fives and fist bumps. Some of the onlookers today will eventually end up on the football team themselves.

Falcons football unites all three levels of the school. Here, 7th grader Matt Schepers, left, and high school senior Aiden Boeckmann celebrate a long second quarter touchdown pass. Schepers and Boeckmann were at the front of the student section the entire game, rallying the Blair Oaks fans. 

Winning a state championship is far from easy, and the nerves got to Blair Oaks junior Jayden Campbell as the referees brought out the chains to decide whether Lamar would be awarded a first down or turn the ball over to the Falcons. Thankfully for Campbell, the call went Blair Oaks’ way. 

A roller coaster of a final possession for Lamar led to pandemonium on the Blair Oaks sideline. Multiple flags led to fourth down being played three times. Eventually, Blair Oaks made a stop and no flags were thrown, giving the Falcons the ball with a five point lead and 40 seconds left on the clock. 

Following a back-and-forth battle with the Lamar Tigers, the Blair Oaks Falcons were awarded the 2022 MSHSAA Class 2A Championship trophy, adding to their crowded collection and expanding on the school’s legacy.