North Callaway’s field never saw that many points before.

The Thunderbirds combined for 130 points with Eastern Missouri Conference foe Bowling Green and defeated the Bobcats 76-54 on Friday. North Callaway (3-1, 2-0 EMO) rushed for 460 yards, led by a career-high 303 yards by Jaiden Galbreath, and Bowling Green (2-2, 1-1 EMO) ran for 345 yards.

Bowling Green scored the first 21 points and led 28-6 in the first half. North Callaway, who received votes in the Class 2 state poll prior to the game and is the defending conference champion, tied the game at 28 and went back-and-forth with the Bobcats until it was knotted at 42 at halftime.

“Early in that game, they were more physical than us and were executing better than we were,” said head coach Kevin O’Neal, who hasn’t had that many points scored in a game he’s coached. “I’m really proud of how my team responded, and it says a lot for our senior leadership that we’re able to make those adjustments.”

O’Neal said Bowling Green had a lot of returners after its first year with a new head coach that ended with its first losing season in six years. In those other years, Bowling Green was winning the conference, but O’Neal said it had that physicality and confidence back this year.

“They did a good job with their blocking schemes of blocking down on us, kicking out and their backs were patient finding the hole,” O’Neal said. “It’s a game we can learn from defensively and get better.”

Bowling Green couldn’t stop Galbreath, though. The senior running back has multiple 200-yard games in his career, but Friday was a first for him. Galbreath ran for four touchdowns while averaging 13.8 yards per carry, and he stayed busy on the defensive line.

O’Neal said Galbreath does so much for North Callaway on every play. He said Friday demanded so much from him that he was asked to take a breather, but O’Neal said the “workhorse” and “ultimate team player” always wants to be on the field.

“We’ve thrown the ball well the first few weeks,” O’Neal said. “Bowling Green was emptying the box, so we knew we could spread them out with our formation and give the ball to Jaiden. He had several big runs right up the middle. He’s done a good job of blocking on the edge whenever we roll out and pass, too.”

The game featured plenty of offense, but key defensive plays helped give North Callaway the edge. Coltyn O’Neal threw for a touchdown and ran for two touchdowns but scored twice defensively in the fourth quarter. O’Neal forced and returned a fumble for a touchdown on a sack and returned an interception for a touchdown.

“There were big plays defensively,” O’Neal said. “As poorly we played early defensively, we came up with big plays late in that game to seal the win.”

After playing a non-conference game at Palmyra (2-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, North Callaway has four more conference games, including an undefeated Louisiana at home in two weeks. The Bowling Green victory felt like a big win for the defending conference champions.

“This game is probably going to determine who finishes at the top of the conference,” O’Neal said. “Not to put it past the other teams like Louisiana, but our first five weeks of our schedule are our biggest games.”