LAKE OZARK, Mo. - A week ago the Springfield Catholic Irish were sitting pretty atop the Missouri Class 3 District 3 standings, hoping to draw the No. 8 seed for the upcoming district tournament.
However, a 35-7 loss to Reeds Spring in the regular-season finale not only cost the Irish the Central Ozark Conference small-division championship but it also dropped them to the No. 3 seed in the district. As a result, instead of the No. 8 seed in the opening round Catholic is now taking on one of the scariest No. 6 seeds around - School of the Osage.
The Osage Indians (5-4) travel to Springfield tonight to take on the Irish (7-2) in first-round district action (7 p.m. kickoff).
St. James (7-2) leaped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the district standings last week while Eldon (8-1) is seeded No. 2, Catholic No. 3, defending district champion Owensville (6-3) No. 4, Logan-Rogersville (5-4) No. 5, Osage No. 6, Buffalo (3-6) No. 7 and Sullivan (2-7) No. 8.
The Osage/Catholic winner will play the Eldon/Buffalo winner while the St. James/Sullivan winner faces the Owensville/Rogersville winner in district semifinal action next week.
It's been an inconsistent season for the Indians. However, Osage still puts fear in opposing defensive coordinators, averaging 32.5 points per game. And it's not lost on the head coaches that last year's No. 6 district seed - Eldon - advanced to the district title game.
And one of the Indians' most explosive players, senior running back Nick Riley, is back after missing a couple of games with an ankle injury.
"We'd like to think we're a pretty good sixth-seed," said Osage head coach Devin Johnson. "All the teams in the district are fairly evenly-matched. I think they'll be a lot of good games this week."
Catholic had a six-game winning streak snapped by Reeds Spring last week.
An option team, the Irish are averaging 28.8 points, averaging 304.9 yards per game. And the Catholic defense is one of the top-ranked in the southwest Missouri area, allowing an average of just 10.9 points per game. Six times this season the Irish have limited opponents to single digits in points scored.
And the hub of the team is junior quarterback/safety Tyson Riley.
Riley leads a balanced rushing attack with 807 yards on 125 carries and 14 touchdowns. And he passes just enough to keep foes honest, having completed 33-of-63 passes for 452 yards, two interceptions and five touchdowns.
There are several other threats in the backfield. Junior running back Nick Crites has rushed for 370 yards (5.6 yards-per-carry), senior running back Hunter Puckett 314 yards on 71 carries, junior running back Heath Southwick 288 yards on 52 carries and senior running back Jacob Straus 192 yards on 31 carries.
The team's top receiver is senior wideout Lincoln Jones with 16 catches for 296 yards and all five aerial TDs.
Defensively senior lineman Drew Davis is the Irish's leading tackler while Riley is the second-leading tackler and has four interceptions from his free safety position.
"They're an option-first team," Johnson said of Catholic. "The quarterback - Riley - is a tremendous athlete and they are able to spread it out a little and throw. The quarterback is good in read-option. We've seen Catholic twice since I've been here and their personnel is set to be pretty explosive. Offensively we've got to find our rhythm and tempo.
"Defensively they base out of a 4-4 and adjust from there. They stop the run first. They don't allow the big play in the passing game and allow their inside linebackers to kind of roam and run. For us it will be trying to find a way to get to that second level."
It will also be an opportunity for Johnson to match wits with one of the icons of Missouri prep football coaching in Irish head coach Steve Hancock.
Hancock is one of the winningest head coaches in southwest Missouri, with a 284-154 mark. In particular, he had a long run at Branson, where he posted a 169-81 mark with 10 playoff appearances. Hancock is a member of both the Missouri Football Coaches Association's Hall of Fame (1998) and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (2009).
"Coach Hancock is just as good a guy as he is a coach," Johnson said. "I got to know him earlier in my career and he'll do anything for you as a person. I really appreciate coaches like that, who try to help a young coach like myself as much as he can."
Osage ended its regular season on a high note, rolling past Tri-County Conference rival California 47-14.
"Our guys are pretty confident," Johnson said. "Practice has gone well this week and feel we have a good game plan going in. I think it will come down to a couple of critical plays."
Indian senior quarterback Zach Wheeler has completed 120-of-207 passes for 1,689 yards, 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Senior wideout Drake Gaines has 40 receptions for 619 yards and nine touchdowns while junior wideout Dalton Depee has 41 catches for 566 yards and six TDs, Riley 16 catches for 221 yards and three TDs and senior running back Austin Magnuson 14 catches for 235 yards and three TDs.
Riley paces the ground game with 592 yards and eight TDs while Magnuson has rushed for 382 yards and six TDs.
Magnuson, a linebacker, is the area's leading tackler by a wide margin, with 131 including 85 solo and nine for loss.
Also for the Indians junior linebacker Traygen Whittle has 83 tackles; Depee, a linebacker, has 75 tackles, and Riley, a safety, 64. Senior lineman Josh McCubbin has nine sacks.