This was not the same South Callaway that North Callaway beat in Week 1.

The Thunderbirds won 20-8 in Week 1 but struggled all night to stop the surging South Callaway in the first round of the Class 2 District 3 tournament on Friday at home in Kingdom City, losing 42-32. South Callaway quarterback Graden Pontius ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries, and the Bulldogs finished with 408 yards on the ground.

North Callaway (8-2) held South Callaway (7-3) to 176 rushing yards in Week 1, but that doesn’t matter at this point in the season, head coach Kevin O’Neal said. In his first start as the Bulldogs’ quarterback, Pontius had 157 of the yards that night, but South Callaway was able to get a 100-yard night from Chase Mealy this time and spread the scoring to others.

“Graden Pontius’ understanding of the offense and what they want to do has definitely grown throughout the year,” O’Neal said. “He does a good job of audibling and getting them into the right play.”

North Callaway had its five-game winning streak ended. During that span, the Thunderbirds found their offensive groove with their first two 40-point games of the season each of the previous two weeks heading into districts.

However, O’Neal said North Callaway had to figure out its team like South Callaway. The Bulldogs have won seven of their previous eight games and became more difficult to deal with for the Thunderbirds’ defense.

“Defensively, we did not do a great job of reading our keys,” O’Neal said. “They took advantage of that. They do a good job of disguising what they’re doing and then taking advantage of your defensive alignment. When we were aligned a certain way, they would change the play and attack a different gap.”

North Callaway’s 1000-yard rusher Jaiden Galbreath has been a focal point for the offense this season but couldn’t break 100 yards on Friday. Galbreath finished with 96 yards on 20 carries, but the Thunderbirds still eclipsed 200 yards with 253 yards on 41 carries.

Meanwhile, Collin Moore continued his hot streak with a performance of 118 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries and added a 45-yard touchdown catch on a throw by Coltyn O’Neal. Moore ran at least 100 yards in three of his final four games.

“South Callaway definitely geared their defense to stop Jaiden and stop our runs in between the tackles,” O’Neal said. “Our sweeps to the outside were a little more effective. That’s why Collin had a big night.”

Outside of the final drive that stalled due to the end of the first half, every drive in the first half ended with a touchdown and resulted in a 28-26 South Callaway lead at halftime. O’Neal said North Callaway didn’t keep up in the shootout after failing to convert a fourth down and losing a fumble.

Senior David Sapp led the defense with 10 tackles in his final game. This game was the last for the 2024 edition of the Thunderbirds as well. Considering where the team was a year ago, O’Neal said he is proud of what they accomplished.

“I’m very proud of this team,” O’Neal said. “They worked really hard in the offseason. That definitely showed throughout the year, going from a 2-8 year to an 8-2 year. I’m proud of their effort all season and how they came to practice each week. Hopefully we can use this as a building block and continue to improve in the future.”