It has been almost a decade since North Callaway played Palmyra.

The Thunderbirds’ most recent meeting before Friday’s 18-12 road victory was a loss in the 2015 district tournament. It was North Callaway’s first ever regular season meeting with Palmyra and the program’s first ever victory over the Panthers.

North Callaway did allow the first and last touchdown of the game, but O’Neal said his team controlled the game throughout.

“Offensively, we did a good job of putting some long drives together and controlling the line of scrimmage,” O’Neal said. “Honestly, for the whole game, we were in control.

O’Neal complimented Palmyra in its efforts to take away North Callaway’s big weapon in running back Jaiden Galbreath, who finished with 84 yards. However, he said the passing game stepped up to make up for it as Coltyn O’Neal threw for 119 yards and a 57-yard touchdown to Collin Moore on 7-for-12 passing.

“Palmyra did a good job of loading the box,” O’Neal said. “They did a good job keying in on him and shutting him down so we went to the passing game a little bit more.”

Palmyra had one rusher reach 136 yards but 80 of those happened on a touchdown run in the first quarter after a missed tackle. The Panthers also connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Other than those mistakes, O’Neal said there wasn’t much to complain about defensively for North Callaway. Collin and Clayton Moore each finished with six tackles, and Clayton Moore and Malikai Lang each had a sack. Tristan Petty had an interception.

“Defensively, we did a great job of shutting down everything they wanted to do,” O’Neal said. “Our defensive line played really well. Our linebackers did a good job of reading their keys, and for the most part, shutting down their run game.”

O’Neal said the focus now is on not getting distracted during preparation because the Homecoming game is at 7 p.m. Friday against Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana (0-5).