The lightning scattered the sky near Greene Stadium on the William Jewell College campus Thursday, providing an abrupt halt to a Liberty North and Staley high school football game.

A day later, when the teams resumed in the third quarter, the story played out with the same underlying theme.

An unsolvable Staley defense.

The Falcons posted their second shutout of the season in a 21-0 win against Liberty North that began Thursday and concluded Friday.

In four weeks, Staley’s first-unit defense has yet to allow a touchdown this season.

“There’s a really good synergy among them right now,” Staley coach Fred Bouchard said in a phone interview after the game. “It’s a really good group. They rally to the ball.”

The defense held Liberty North off the scoreboard. And it provided its own scoring, too.

Staley senior linebacker Monterio Whiles scored on a 25-yard fumble return to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead in the third quarter, before the game was halted Thursday.

After it resumed Friday, Staley quarterback Michael Kilpatrick was the only one to cross the goal line, and he did it on a 79-yard run down the sideline.

Staley, 4-0, tallied five takeaways over the two days, including three interceptions from senior defensive back Gore Pitia.