It's already been a rugged season for the School of the Osage Indians so far, with the cream of the Tri-County Conference coming this week in Blair Oaks.
However, the silver lining for Osage is the fact it is grouped in a Class 3 District 5 that is extremely close in talent. So the Indians' goal this week is to simply to continue to sharpen their play and be ready when the district tussles begin in three weeks.
Osage will play Blair Oaks tonight (7 p.m. kickoff) in Wardsville. It will be the Falcons' Senior Night.
Coming into this week Osage has a 2-5 overall and 1-4 Tri-County record. The Indians are coming off a 29-13 setback to Versailles.
The Blair Oaks Falcons have certainly been soaring this fall, sweeping through the first seven weeks undefeated including a dominating 5-0 conference mark. Last week was a typical result as the Falcons blasted No. 9 Class 3 state-ranked Southern Boone 56-17.
Blair Oaks continues to hold down the No. 2 spot in Class 2 in the Missouri Media Rankings behind only defending state champion Lamar.
Last week, the Indians struggled with Versailles' quarterback Coby Williams, who accounted for 274 yards of total offense, including 200 rushing.
Osage's two touchdowns came on an 11-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Dalton Depee to junior wideout Logan Havner and a 1-yard Depee TD plunge.
"They're playing pretty well," Osage coach Devin Johnson said of Versailles. "They have an extremely good quarterback and they have a few kids who have started for a few years now. They're very athletic and pretty impressive; they do a lot of things correctly."
Osage is currently seventh in the District 5 standings. Springfield Catholic leads with 42.62 points while Buffalo is second at 37.38, St. James third at 34.33, Eldon fourth at 32.71, Salem fifth at 27.84, Owensville sixth at 27.84, Osage seventh at 20.1 and Logan- Rogersville eighth at 16.71.
Johnson knows a solid performance against Blair Oaks could play a big role down the road when district play begins.
"For us it's about continually improving," Johnson said. "Last week, if two or three plays go differently, it's a different game. We've just got to focus on us. The most important thing is we can't turn the ball over."
Certainly not against Blair Oaks. Just slowing the Falcons down will be enough of a chore.
Last week against a strong Southern Boone squad Blair Oaks scored five of its touchdowns on drives of three plays or less.
The Indians will have to do something to contain Blair Oaks' all-state senior quarterback Nolan Hair. Good luck with that, no one else has been able to.
Hair was about as efficient as possible last week, completing all nine of his passes for 276 yards. That brought his season totals to 78-of-119 completions for 1,705 yards and 23 touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception. Plus, Hair has rushed for more than 300 yards
"Physically he's stronger than a year ago," Johnson said of Hair. "He's just a smart player and makes the right reads, he takes what the defense gives him. And he's the leader of that group.
"But there is not one person you can key on. Of course, their running back is a guy we've got to watch. There is a pretty solid player everywhere for them."
Indeed, it's pick your poison against the Falcons.
Junior running back Riley Lentz has rushed for more than 500 yards.
And Hair has three of the area's top-ranking receivers to throw to in senior wideout Ben Thomas, senior running back/slotback Braydan Pritchett and senior wideout Marcus Edler. Thomas leads the way with 23 receptions for 667 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Junior inside linebacker Sam Luebbering paces the Falcon defense with 56 tackles while Pritchett, a defensive back, has 52 stops.
"Defensively, their overall speed is very good," Johnson said. "They close very quickly - the windows close fast. And they're bigger than they have been in the past."
Depee has completed 38-of-95 passes for 419 yards, five interceptions and four touchdowns while rushing for 423 yards on 80 attempts and four TDs.
Also for Osage, junior running back Jack Dulle has 242 rushing yards. Havner leads the team in receptions with 14 for 129 yards.
Depee, a safety, also paces the team in tackles with 79 and two interceptions while junior linebacker James Hutchcraft has 59 tackles and junior linebacker Drew Edwards 58 and three sacks.