Staley and Kearney entered Friday night’s showdown at NKC District Stadium on a collective 13-game winning streak — a showdown between two top-three teams in their respective classes.

It was supposed to be a hard-hitting game between rivals separated by a few miles on I-35.

It wasn’t even close. Staley was the definition of dominant in a 42-0 victory over the Bulldogs that featured a running clock in the second half.

The Falcons (8-0) started the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive, and simply never let Kearney (6-2) breathe after that.

“This was a dominating performance on our end, and I think a lot of things clicked,” senior tight end/defensive lineman Zach Elam said. “We weren’t perfect. We had a lot of penalties and a lot of mistakes that were made, but overall, it was a good, dominating performance.”

Elam wasn’t bragging on this night, merely stating a fact.

The Falcons had a whopping 358-to-19-yards advantage in total offense in the first half. Quarterback John Raybourn paced the offense with 271 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing passes to seven different receivers. Rod Criss II led the receivers with six catches for 96 yards and a score.

Raybourn also ran for two touchdowns on his only two carries of the game.

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