School of the Osage looks to build off impressive performance

Plays Moberly

After notching their first win in their season opener against the Fulton Hornets, the School of the Osage Indians figure to have a much tougher test in store this evening when they travel to face the Moberly Spartans.

Osage ran roughshod against Fulton with a 41-14 victory filled with the consistently high-performing offense fans have come to recognize in the past few years, but their defense proved a pleasant surprise for Indian supporters.

Osage allowed only 207 all-purpose yards of offense to Fulton, while tallying three sacks, three turnovers and eight tackles for loss.

However, the Spartans figure to provide the Indians with their first real test of the season.

Although Moberly lost their first game of the year to the Blair Oaks Falcons, ranked third in Class 3 this week, the Spartans kept the game close through the first half before falling 21-3 in Wardsville. Blair Oaks beat six of their opponents by more than 30 points last season.

Moberly could also have a slightly shallower bench than Osage this week. Last week, the Spartans had 10 different starters on the sidelines with injuries. By comparison, the Indians should field their entire roster of starters.

Still, the Spartans have proven dangerous in the past two meetings against the Indians, winning those encounters by scores of 34-7 and 20-12.

Osage last beat Moberly in 2011, the year the Indians went undefeated in the regular season and went to the state semifinals in Class 3.

For the Indians to be successful, their offense will have to turn in another strong outing, especially from players like Jake Ulmer and Justin Heiser, who at points in the game against Fulton took drives into their own hands.

Another player to watch will be offensive lineman Alex Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon primarily plays right tackle and played a pivotal role in creating seams for Ulmer and Heiser to run through when they broke long distance yardage.

The offensive line as a whole played well enough to protect quarterback Austin Riley, but Riley still faced significant pressure early and found himself scrambling. He never allowed himself to go down, but it threw off his accuracy, especially on the long ball.

On defense, inside lineman Brad Russell will need another big game. He constantly provided pressure up front and netted his own sack. Seniors Johnathan Williams and Jeb Robertson should also be able to help him on the rush.

After tonight's game against the Spartans, a member of the North Central Missouri Conference, the Indians being a seven-game stretch against opponents from the Tri-County Conference.

Osage will open its Tri-County Conference slate with three consecutive home games against Warsaw, Southern Boone and Versailles.

Osage will then travel to Blair Oaks before wrapping up its home slate with a game against Eldon. The final two regular season games for Osage will be played at California and at Hallsville.