After finishing the season with a 7-2 record with a win against the Glendale Falcons, the Camdenton Lakers transition into the postseason at the top of Class 5 District 4, earning themselves a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout districts.
Although they have the first week free to rest up and prepare, coach Jeff Shore and the Camdenton coaching staff, as well as some the team's veteran players, will likely be watching the quarterfinal between the Lebanon Yellowjackets and the Rolla Bulldogs. The Lakers have played and trounced both of these teams this season, beating Lebanon 31-10 at home and travelling to Rolla to hand out a 58-28 shellacking.
In its game against Lebanon, Camdenton relied on a strong defensive showing and running back Josh Martin to stifle Lebanon early and often. Camdenton had three turnovers that game, and held Lebanon under 300 yards of offense.
Lebanon's season has been a disappointing one. The Yellowjackets are 3-6 with their wins coming against Rolla, Waynesville and Glendale. All of those wins came in the first four weeks of the season and they have dropped five straight since. One bright spot on their team is quarterback Luke Winfrey who has posted three games with QB ratings of at least 80 and has completed 82.4 percent of his passes. Lebanon's a team that can possibly surprise people if it regains its early-season form.
Rolla has struggled on the defensive side this season. Aside from its victory against Joplin early in September and a close loss to Waynesville the following week, Rolla's defense hasn't kept any of its opponents under 40 points. The Bulldogs give up an average of more than 47 points per game. Glendale put up 72 points on them in Week 7, Parkview totaled 64 in Week 3, and Camdenton scored 58 in Week 6.
The Lakers' trickiest contenders for another district title will come from the other side of the bracket, specifically the No. 2 seeded Waynesville Tigers (5-4), who have also received a bye this week. The Tigers and the Lakers met just weeks ago at Camdenton's Homecoming game, and it took a last-second field goal from Nate Paschel to give Camdenton the win.
Waynesville, however, has a deceiving record; three of their losses have been by a single point (against Lebanon, Joplin and Camdenton). In their four losses, the Tigers have lost by a combined 10 points. Waynesville has a tough defense that has only allowed one team to score more than 26 points, and its offense has enough talent in players like quarterback Varon Martinez and wideout Seth Hedrick to give top teams problems.
In Waynesville's bracket, No. 3 seeded Battle (5-4) will face off against No. 6 Washington (1-8), two relatively unknown programs to Camdenton. If Battle has one reliable quality, it's the team's consistency. The Spartans beat programs worse than theirs and lose to teams better than theirs. The Battle defense has held poor teams - like Hickman, Excelsior Springs and Lee's Summit North - scoreless and the team has gotten blown out by strong programs like Jefferson City and Helias. On offense, Battle runs the ball with junior Jerrion Nelson and senior Nash Sutherlin, both of whom have had success this season.
The Washington Blue Jays probably won't be equipped to beat Battle, especially since starting quarterback Issac Libbert left last week's game at halftime with an injury. Washington as a whole has struggled offensively this season as well. In their last three games, the Blue Jays have scored 69 points, but in the five matches prior to that, they only managed to put up half of that.
What's worse for them is they've lost all eight of those games. Their defense has given up an average of almost 40 points per game in that span, and in four of those games, their opponents scored seven touchdowns or more. Battle should be able to handle them.
What this means for Camdenton is the Lakers will probably meet up with Waynesville in the district final for a grudge match of sorts, a chance for the Tigers to get revenge after a heartbreaking loss. However, Battle could make a run into the final as well if the Spartans dispatch Washington and play well against the Tigers.