School of the Osage to host top-ranked Blair Oaks

Drew Edwards of School of the Osage follows the block of teammate James Hutchcraft (44) during last Friday night's game against Versailles.
Drew Edwards of School of the Osage follows the block of teammate James Hutchcraft (44) during last Friday night's game against Versailles.

OSAGE BEACH - In the span of a week, the School of the Osage Indians are going from one extreme to the other in the Tri-County Conference standings.

And it certainly won't be an easy task.

A week ago, the Indians faced winless-but-explosive Versailles, and the result was an Osage defeat. This week, the Indians are facing the undefeated-and-explosive Blair Oaks.

Osage will host the top-ranked Blair Oaks Falcons tonight in league play. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Against the league's best, the Indians will be attempting to snap a four-game losing streak.

Osage comes in 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the conference after falling to Versailles 34-13 last Friday. Defending Class 2 state champion Blair Oaks, now ranked No. 1 in Class 3 in this week's Missouri Media Rankings, is 7-0 and 5-0 after shutting out former state-ranked opponent Southern Boone 40-0 last Friday in Wardsville.

Osage coach Devin Johnson said the Falcons are only getting better. Recent results indicate that may be true.

Blair Oaks' first-string defense has not allowed a point in more than a month - 18 quarters. And during that time, the team's reserves have given up just one touchdown on defense.

In all, the Falcons are allowing 10.0 points per game and have won 45 straight regular-season games, including a current 22-game winning streak. Blair Oaks is attempting to go undefeated in the Tri-County Conference for the fifth consecutive year.

So the task is daunting at best for the Indians.

"Defensively they are about as good as any team I've seen Blair Oaks have," Johnson said. "They're fast, tackle well and fly to the ball. And on offense, they run a speed option game very well. Obviously, they've been better the last couple of weeks than they were earlier, with a freshman quarterback."

The perfect example of that could be last week, when the Falcons rolled up 40 points while completely shutting down a Southern Boone squad which has been among the state's best.

With Blair Oaks dominating the Southern Boone rushing attack, the Falcons owned the field possession battle. The Falcons erupted for three touchdowns in the first quarter to grab control early.

Blair Oaks freshman quarterback Dylan Hair, who has thrown for 1,536 yards while completing 68 percent of his attempts, has a couple of big-play receivers to throw to in juniors Jake Closser and Carson Prenger. Closser has 22 receptions for 650 yards (29.5 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns and Prenger has 20 catches for 311 yards (15.5). In addition, junior Cobi Marble has just eight receptions but they have totaled 251 yards (31.3) and three TDs.

Leading the Falcons' ground game is senior running back Riley Lentz, who has 533 yards and eight touchdowns.

Osage got a first-hand look at big-play players last week in Versailles senior quarterback Coby Williams, who hit three different receivers for touchdowns, including two of 48 and 6 yards to junior wideout Michael Bell.

"Defensively, I thought we did a good job containing Coby Williams," Johnson said. "But we had a couple of blown plays and miscues and they took advantage of them. It was 14-13 with 58 seconds left in the second quarter. We moved the ball well; we just didn't finish drives.

"It was one of those games of critical moments, and we didn't make plays in those critical moments."

For the Indians, senior quarterback Drew Edwards has completed 59-of-116 passes for 804 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 155 yards and two TDs.

Senior wideout Logan Havner leads Osage in receiving with 31 catches for 398 yards and two TDs, while senior wideout Matt Hans has 11 catches for 108 yards.

Senior running back James Hutchcraft paces the Indians with 536 yards on 114 carries and four TDs while catching seven passes for 108 yards.

Hutchcraft, a linebacker, also leads Osage in tackles with 62, while senior lineman Rudy Escobar has 52.

Indian senior running back Jack Dulle is still out with injury.

For seven schools, including Osage, the Falcons will be the odds-on favorite when district play begins in a couple weeks. And for those schools, the regular season becomes a race to avoid the Falcons in early-district matchups. Right now, winless St. James is losing that race.

Blair Oaks is currently comfortably leading the Missouri Class 3 District 5 standings with 48.77 points, while Buffalo (6-1) is No. 2 with 44.31, Springfield Catholic (5-2) is No. 3 with 37.24, Salem (5-2) is No. 4 with 34.51, Logan-Rogersville (2-5) is No. 5 with 23.14, Eldon (1-6) is No. 6 with 20.76, Osage (2-5) is No. 7 with 20.76 and St. James (0-7) is No. 8 with 12.71.

"We've got to compete every day," Johnson said. "I feel we've improved throughout the year; we're still getting better. We still have a chance to win some games in the district."