OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - Throughout most of this season the School of the Osage Indians have been on a roll.
And they are hoping to roll into district play on another high note tonight.
Osage concludes the non-district portion of its season tonight by traveling to California for a Tri-County Conference matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Indians, ranked No. 9 in this week's Missouri Media Class 3 state poll, is 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference. The California Pintos come in 2-6 and 2-4.
The teams will open play in their respective district tournaments next week.
Osage is second in the Class 3 District 3 standings - which is used to seed the district tournament - to 8-0 Owensville. Owensville has 46.27 district points and will play 5-3 Four Rivers Conference rival St. Clair tonight. Osage has 43.29 points.
"It's pretty tight," said Osage coach Devin Johnson. "We'll probably be the No. 2 seed, so we'll probably play the No. 7 seed (in the district first-round next week). And that will probably be St. James or (Tri-County rival) Eldon."
California is currently seventh in the Class 2 District 4 standings with 28.96 points. Undefeated Lamar leads the district standings with 58.92 points.
"We don't really know," California head coach Marty Albertson said of the Pintos' district-opening opponent next week. "From seventh to fourth (seed), one point separates everybody. It all depends on what everybody does (tonight). We could end up anywhere from seventh through fourth."
Certainly Osage is not going to take California lightly tonight. A year ago the Pintos clobbered the Indians 41-21. But the injury bug has hit California hard this fall.
"Traditionally they're one of the best teams in the conference," Johnson said of California. "The cool thing about our conference are the teams with a lot of tradition. California is a team that is good defensively, they just haven't been able to get a lot of wins in the column. Their quarterback (junior Jacob Wolken) is really good. He can throw it and leads the team in rushing."
"We've been devastated with a lot of injuries," said Albertson, whose team was hammered by No. 2 state-ranked Blair Oaks 52-12 last week. "We have 14 kids on the sidelines, that's tough on any high school team. Those kind of things happen; the next man up has got to play. We want to play well (tonight) and it's a brand new season next week."
Pushing through the injuries, California is averaging just 13.8 points per game while allowing 26.1.
Wolken has passed for 677 yards and rushed for 746 yards.
Also for the Pintos junior running back Cory Friedmeyer has more than 500 rushing yards. And in the passing game junior wideout Kyle Hofstetter, senior wideout Luke Freeman and junior tight end Jacob Adams all have between 12-to-15 receptions.
Senior linebacker Sam Kirby paces California's defense in tackles.
Osage has been dealing with some injuries of its own. Standout sophomore returner/receiver/linebacker Dalton Depee was limited during last week's 32-6 victory against Eldon with a shoulder injury. Johnson said he's good to go tonight. And senior linebacker Max Drier, who has 14 tackles for losses and three sacks, is out tonight with a knee injury and his status for district play is uncertain.
"It's been a unique year," Johnson said. "In different games we've had different players who have stepped up. We feel good about our program. The kids compete and it's refreshing we can have injuries and have kids fill in. We feel we're in a good spot."
Osage averages 33.4 points and is giving up 16.9.
Indians' junior quarterback Zach Wheeler has competed 90-of-158 passes for 1,342 yards, seven interceptions and 15 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 120 yards and four touchdowns.
Senior wideout Jason Edwards has 28 receptions for 443 yards and five touchdowns to pace Osage, while junior wideout Drake Gaines has 24 catches for 385 yards and four TDs, junior tight end James McCann 11 catches for 171 yards, and Depee eight catches for 167 yards and four touchdowns.
Junior running back Nick Riley leads the Osage ground game with 675 yards on 76 carries (8.9 yards per carry) and senior Dylan Riley has 264 yards on 50 carries with six touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Austin Magnuson has 90 tackles (39 solo), including eight for losses for the Indians, senior defensive back Max Maples 80 tackles (38 solo), and DylanRiley, a linebacker, has 75 tackles (28 solo). Junior defensive back Ian Riley has four interceptions and Edwards three.
"They're very athletic," Albertson said of Osage. "They've got a lot of good athletes and a couple of receivers who are very good. The quarterback throws well and the running backs run well. And they've got a couple of big linemen."
California hosts Osage
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