Boone Central primed for its district showdown with undefeated and Class C1 #2 ranked Pierce with a 55-0 shellacking at O’Neill Friday.
The banged-up O’Neill Eagles never had a chance.
Boone dominated in all three phases of the contest – offense, defense and special teams – while racing to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and 35-0 halftime advantage.
The onslaught began on the game’s third play from scrimmage, Parker Borer picking off an O’Neill pass attempt and zipping 32 yards to paydirt.
“O’Neill had some key injuries, so the game played out differently than expected,” Boone Coach Mark Hudson commented. “Their offense was limited in what it could do. That set up some short fields for our offense and we were able to jump out to an early lead, then were able to get younger kids playing time.”
Two plays after Borer’s touchdown, Jaxson Lipker pounced on an O’Neill fumble. Alex Christo connected with Sam Grape for 23 yards to the Eagle 3-yard line, but two subsequent holding penalties pushed Boone back and a 16-yard completion to Grape on 4th-and-18 turned the ball over.
For one play.
Caden Stokes recovered another O’Neill fumble and Borer quickly tallied on a 3-yard run.
The teams traded punts, with Austin Wiese pinning the Eagles at their own 16-yard line. James Fogleman gathered in another O’Neill punt three plays later and dashed 28 yards for the Cardinals’ third touchdown. Fogleman’s third PAT made it 21-0.
The turnovers kept coming as Caden Stokes intercepted an O’Neill pass attempt, but Boone came up short on another fourth down to stop the ensuing drive.
Just a momentary pause.
The Card defense forced another O’Neill punt and Boone marched 48 yards in nine plays – eight runs – to score again on Borer’s one-yard capper. Boone Central then closed first half scoring when Fogleman returned an Eagle punt 49 yards and Christo followed with a 6-yard TD jaunt.
The third quarter was more of the same. Boone stopped a 4th-and-3 try by O’Neill and Borer immediately raced 39 yards for his third touchdown.
That was followed by yet another O’Neill punt and a third one-play touchdown strike – Christo to Jack Roberts covering 60 yards.
Brogan Benes tacked on a 4-yard TD run with 6:17 remaining in the contest for the final 55-point margin.
Boone Central edged unbeaten C1 #1 Pierce 35-33 in a 2021 thriller on the night the Cardinal football program’s first state playoff championship team was honored (2001 9-7 state final win over Pierce).
“Obviously we have a big game coming up – it will decide the district championship, “Hudson acknowledged. “They have one of the best players in the state with #15, Ben Brahmer. He is a dynamic tight end who can catch everything remotely close to him. Their lines are also a strength, as they are very large and play with great technique.
“It will be quite a challenge, and we won’t sneak up on them like we did last year.”
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