Collin Moore showed that he shouldn’t be ignored during last week’s win against Louisiana.

Moore couldn’t be denied during Friday’s 26-20 win at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Mark Twain (1-6), running for 137 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Moore caught a 28-yard touchdown from Coltyn O’Neal in the final two minutes of the first half.

Head coach Kevin O’Neal said Jaiden Galbreath had another good night running inside with 99 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, but Moore helps North Callaway (6-1) find as much success outside. Moore had a solid night last week with 54 yards on 10 carries against conference foe Louisiana.

“We got our outside run going better tonight with our buck sweep,” O’Neal said. “Collin has good vision and patience. We pull guards on that play so he’s doing a good job of waiting for his blockers to get to their spots and setting those blocks up.”

O’Neal said North Callaway didn’t have a great first half but took a 20-6 halftime lead thanks to the efforts of the defense. Mark Twain was a passing team that threw the ball 30 times, which went according to the game plan.

“We wanted to take away their run game and force them to pass,” O’Neal said. “They found some success in the second half on the edge, but we did a good job of forcing them to throw the ball early in the game.”

Other than a few long passing plays on “coverage issues,” O’Neal said the Thunderbirds did well defending the air. Ben Haubner ran an interception back 73 yards for the first points of the game in the first quarter, Tristan Petty had an interception, and five passes were defended by the Thunderbirds.

O’Neal said Brandon Biggers played well at safety, finishing with five tackles and a pass defense; Galbreath led with seven tackles and a sack; and Clayton Moore had sic tackles and a sack. He added Carter Moore doesn’t get much attention simply because he is so good in the secondary, having one pass defense on Friday.

“Teams rarely throw his way because he does a very good job in his coverage,” O’Neal said. “In seven weeks, I don’t think many balls have been thrown his way because he’s pretty solid. He’s a bigger and more physical corner than we have and does a good job on the short side of the field for us.”

Before hosting an improved and state-ranked Van-Far team in another conference game, O’Neal said North Callaway needs to improve defending the edge better than it did in the second half and be more physical with the inside receiver.

North Callaway hosts Class 1 No. 6 Van-Far (6-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.