It was a night North Callaway quarterback Braydn O’Neal won’t forget anytime soon.

At halftime, the senior was crowned homecoming king following his four touchdowns in the first half and finished the game with 208 yards and five touchdowns on 12-for-14 passing in a 36-16 victory against Van-Far. Sergio Moreno caught four of the touchdowns, finishing with six catches for a career-high 154 yards.

Head coach Kevin O’Neal said his quarterback had a big night and had his best night throwing the ball thanks to the game plan North Callaway had prepared for Van-Far.

“We wanted to spread it out, throw the ball a little bit more to get our passing game going,” O’Neal said. “He did a good job of reading the defense and making plays when we needed it. We had some coverages that Van-Far runs we thought we could take advantage of. They have a young man up front (Brandon Eoff) that is a pretty solid football player. We just felt like we could spread it out and throw it and be effective offensively there.”

Moreno was Braydn O’Neal’s favorite target again after catching 14 passes from O’Neal in the four games he played prior to Van-Far. He did sit against Louisiana a couple weeks prior because of injury, but Kevin O’Neal said the chemistry he has with his quarterback was on full display.

“He got back in last week and then this week started on offense,” O’Neal said. “Him and Braydn do a good job of understanding defenses and understanding what we want to do in our passing game.”

Van-Far was more difficult to beat this season, O’Neal said, as the Indians have kids that don’t quit and are “well-coached.” North Callaway won 56-0 in last year’s meeting but was tied with Van-Far in the first quarter.

First, the Thunderbirds’ deep drive into Van-Far territory was stopped because of a lost fumble and then Van-Far quarterback Nikos Connaway scored on an eight-yard run near the end of the first quarter to tie the game at 8. The Thunderbirds were able to pick up long gains through the air.

O’Neal found Moreno for the first time in the second quarter on a 60-yard touchdown, then a 20-yard pass, and finally a 42-yard score to make it 28-8 at halftime.

“We moved the ball well offensively,” O’Neal said. “Defensively, we did a fairly good job. Eoff ran the ball hard, and a couple times, they caught us in a blitz we took advantage of and got some chunk yardage from that.”

Van-Far (1-5, 1-4 EMO) was able to run for 210 yards, with Eoff getting 53 yards on 13 carries and Connaway going for 89 yards on 19 carries. Connaway ran in another touchdown from five yards, but that was in the fourth quarter after Moreno caught a four-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

North Callaway (4-2, 3-1 EMO) travels to Wright City (4-2, 3-1 EMO), who lost 36-14 at Montgomery County in Week 6, on Friday as O’Neal said the Thunderbirds should their hands full.

“They’ve got some skill kids and some fast players,” O’Neal said. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us for sure.”

Softball

North Callaway underclassmen lead offense in sixth place finish in Centralia

The young Ladybirds were leading the offense most of the time Saturday in Centralia.

North Callaway finished sixth in the Centralia Tournament after losing 11-1 in five innings to Class 3 No. 3 Chillicothe, defeating Putnam County 12-3 in five innings and dropping the fifth-place game 10-3 to Kirksville. The trio of freshmen Kymorie Myers and Ella Slater and sophomore Faith Cash combined to go 14-for-29 (.483) with nine RBI.

The Ladybirds had a tough first-round matchup with state-ranked Chillicothe and struggled to hold down the Lady Hornets. North Callaway allowed three home runs and two girls to drive in at least four RBI. Chillicothe built a 7-0 lead after two innings against Ellie Bedsworth, who walked eight and had three errors made behind her.

It was North Callaway’s turn to score runs in bunches with its second-round rout of Putnam County. The first inning was scoreless for both teams, but the Ladybirds scored multiple runs in each inning after that. Myers, Slater and Cash were 7-for-11 with seven RBI as Myers and Cash each had three hits and Slater picked up her second career varsity home run. Lauren Speight allowed four hits and one earned run and struck out six.

Myers and Slater each finished 3-for-4 against Kirksville with Slater and Jalyn Leible driving in runs, but it wasn’t enough for a comeback. The Lady Tigers scored four runs in the first inning and widened their lead against Speight and Olivia Knoepflein, who combined to allow six unearned runs via seven errors. Kirksville outhit the Ladybirds 13-10.

Ladybirds honor seniors same night as 15-1 loss to Centralia

The game escaped North Callaway early on Tuesday night, but that there is something that will never escape the Ladybirds.

The team’s four seniors — Ellie Bedsworth, Jalyn Leible, Lilly Shafer and Sarah Chapman — were celebrated for their careers as a Ladybird. Centralia defeated North Callaway 15-1 in six innings thanks to two first-inning home runs that made it 3-0, but head coach Mariah McKee said the four’s contributions can’t be forgotten.

“I really enjoyed having those four girls all four years,” McKee said. “I’m still expecting a lot from them the rest of the season.”

Olivia Knoepflein drove in North Callaway’s lone run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, but Centralia’s defense prevented the Ladybirds from having more than four hits despite only striking out three times. Ella Slater robbed two home runs in the game.

North Callaway (7-14, 4-4 EMO) played at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Mark Twain on Tuesday and travels to Class 3 No. 9 and conference opponent Bowling Green (7-1 EMO) on Thursday.

Cross country

North Callaway lands high finishes in home meet

North Callaway wanted to look good Saturday at its home meet.

Four of the school’s runners finished in the top 15 at the North Callaway Cross Country Invite in Kingdom City. Pressley Schmauch had the best finish for North Callaway in the girls 5,000 meters, Grace Rasmussen had a ninth-place time of 23:20.29 in the girls race, and Tristan Young and Brendan Reinhard placed ninth and 14th, respectively, in the boys 5,000 meters.

Out of 28 runners, Schmauch raced to a time of 21:57.73 and Rasmussen had a time of 23:20.29. The boys race had 34 runners, and among them, Young raced to a time of 18:04.41 and Reinhard finished with a time of 18:40.26.

California’s Kenzleigh Goans had the top time in the girls race at 20:30.24, and St. Charles’ Nate Maples won the boys race with a time of 16:14.70.

Volleyball

Ladybirds earn third three-set sweep

North Callaway won in the three for the third time.

The Ladybirds defeated Brookfield at home Tuesday by set scores 25-9, 25-14 and 25-22.

North Callaway previously swept New Bloomfield and Chamois this year and now have as many wins this season as the previous two combined.

The Ladybirds (6-12-1)  played at Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton on Tuesday before it faces New Bloomfield (1-7) on the road on Thursday.