Feature Story /// Blair Oaks Blair Oaks NORTH Story by: Dick Aldrich Photography by: Tim Closser
And recently, the family has been For those of us who follow the family closely, the news from the last game of the Bulldogs’ regular season did not surprise us. returner Jake Closser sets new Truman State single-game record occurrences in Wardsville during Dylan and Jake’s time with the Blair Oaks Falcons. And those performances came with family in the calling Truman State “Blair Oaks North”. Quarterback Nolan Hair and wide receiver/defensive back Ben Thom- as had just led the Falcons to the Class 2 state championship. Hair had been unbelievable, throwing 52 touchdown passes during the season with zero interceptions. Thomas had been his favorite target, catch- ing 27 touchdown passes that season, 64 overall. Thomas and Hair All-State at defensive back. But for whatever reason, neither Hair nor Thomas had seen much interest from college coaches. lan during a recent interview. “And I wanted to go to a place where I knew I could play and help the team win.” “We won the state championship, and Benner Thomas and Nolan Hair weren’t getting much recruiting interest,” said Blair Oaks foot- ball coach Ted LePage. “So, mid-January I called up (Truman head Nolan and his parents, and really liked what he saw and said they called back and said ‘Ok, we want more’.
“It was a real family atmosphere when I went up there,” said Hair. “Ben was with me on the trip and we both committed right then.”
14 /// January 2025
Both Hair and Thomas went on to be four-year starters at Truman. Thomas was a three-time all-conference player at defensive back and Freshman of the Year in 2020, was all-conference two years and threw for more than 6,000 yards and 56 touchdowns in his career. “Once you get a player at a school, and they like it there, then it becomes an attraction for other players from our school,” said LePage. “It’s fun to watch them have success on Saturdays and get their education paid for a little bit.”
“It’s nice to get players from strong winning programs that know what a winning culture is,” said current Truman head coach Kellen Nesbitt. “And Blair Oaks has had that for a long while now.”
“It’s awesome being able to step on the field with guys you grew up with and being able to make an impact in all different aspects of the game.” – Nick Closser
And once the positive reports started coming in from Kirksville, the pipeline to and from Wardsville opened. Soon, All-State lineman Nolan Atnip joined his “brothers” at Truman. Then came defensive back Jake Closser. Soon, Dylan Hair, receiver Adam Hall, defensive back Nick Closser and center Wyatt Bonnett all became part of the Blair Oaks North family. For blood brothers Nolan and Dylan Hair, and Jake and Nick Closs- er, the ability to play with family was a strong attraction.
I never got to play on a team with Dylan until Truman, so that was cool,” said Nolan. “Plus to be able to be around with my ‘second es, that was all great too.”
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