Although the School of the Osage Indians finished the regular season with a 7-2 record, they only finished with the No. 3 seed in the Class 3 District 3 tournament.
That means tonight's home game against the sixth-seeded Springfield Catholic Fighting Irsh (2-7) could be the last of the season for Indians.
It appears there are three real contenders for the district title - the Indians and the two teams that beat them out for the top two district spots, No. 1 Mountain Grove (8-1) and No. 2 Ava (8-1). The duo are both ranked in the Class 3 top 10. After that, the district experiences a steep drop off in quality. The No. 4 seed, St. James, only has three wins.
The Fighting Irish's wins have come came against teams with 1-8 records - Hollister and Buffalo. Their defense gives up an average of 40 points per game.
While the Irish are inconsistent on defense, they don't appear to have a reliable offense. Springfield Catholic's quarterback Jack Jones controls the pace of most of their games with the ability to throw and run. He leads the team in rushing with 350 yards on 127 attempts and he's thrown for just more than 1,000 yards on 139 attempts. However, he's also thrown 12 interceptions to go along with 10 touchdowns.
His main target, slot receiver Will Wester, has caught 29 of Jones' 61 completions for 596 yards. His speed makes him a lethal part of Springfield Catholic's offense.
Also of note is its two-time All-State kicker Brett Garner who is perfect on PATs this year and 3-of-4 on field goals from distances of 38, 44 and 30 yards. His only miss was a 56-yard attempt. He also averages 35 yards on 31 punts this season. He constantly gives the Irish defense good field position.
So long as Osage keeps turnovers low, its offense may not have too many problems scoring. The Indians performed well against some of the best defenses Class 3 has to offer. With Austin Riley, Jake Ulmer and Collin Samuelson, the team has three dangerous weapons that could carry them to a district championship.