MOKANE, Mo. - The South Callaway Bulldogs can't wish it away, so it's best to leave this one behind.
South Callaway will attempt to purge the dreadful images of last week's 48-0 smackdown at Southern Boone when the Bulldogs finally play their home opener and start the Eastern Missouri Conference portion of their schedule tonight against the Clopton/Elsberry IndianHawks. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
South Callaway - which dropped out of this week's media state poll after being ranked No. 7 - is 1-1 on the season. Clopton/Elsberry is also 1-1 after picking up its first win, a 42-14 dismantling of North Shelby.
As painful as it was to witness again, Bulldogs head coach Zack Hess noted his players began the process of forging ahead when they studied game film from the Southern Boone loss last Saturday morning.
"You could tell they were taking it kind of hard," Hess said. "So we just tried to put a conclusion on it. ... We told them about the 24-hour rule, where you only have 24 hours - whether you win or whether you lose - and then we have to move on to the next opponent.
"I think since then they've been doing pretty good, making that transition into the next week. We haven't let them forget about it, but we have moved on and we're ready to focus on Clopton."
South Callaway's attention on the IndianHawks' spread offense starts with keeping an eye - and handle - on junior quarterback Stephen Talbert. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Talbert rushed for 549 yards and passed for 1,395 more in the 2014 season.
Talbert's main targets will be senior wide receiver Jeremy Jennewein (5-11, 185), who had seven touchdown catches last year, and a pair of juniors - Jamon Graham (5-10, 150) and Mark Frank (5-11, 160).
"Their offense runs through (Talbert)," Hess said. "He's going to get the ball a lot, so our main focus on defense is to try to contain him.
"He's a running back playing quarterback. On top of his ability to run, he can throw the ball - he has a nice touch throwing the ball downfield and he has some receivers that are pretty quick."
The Bulldogs will need to tighten up their pass defense after being exposed by Southern Boone senior quarterback Dane Bossert last week. Bossert completed 10-of-13 passes for 188 yards, including touchdowns of 78 and 5 yards.
"Their route combinations picked on the holes in our defense, and they executed that really well," Hess said. "On top of that, we didn't swarm very well and we didn't tackle very well - and those things kind of go hand-in-hand.
"... (Clopton/Elsberry) is going to stretch the field vertically, they're going to throw the ball downfield, so our defensive backs have to know that they can't get beat deep."
Hess also took the blame for the defense's inability to trap and pressure Bossert in the pocket as he gained 53 yards on only three carries. He stressed that South Callaway will have to be much better in that area tonight against an equally mobile Talbert.
"That's going to be big this week, making him throw from the pocket, instead of running around and making plays with his feet," Hess said. "... We're going to have our hands full with that kid."
The Bulldogs will also be looking to get back on track offensively after rushing for just 106 yards last week. Fifteen of South Callaway's offensive plays against Southern Boone resulted in lost yardage.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs' group of running backs is shrinking. Senior Ajay Cave has already been lost for the season to a broken collarbone, while sophomore Kaden Helsel injured the medial collateral ligament in his knee last week. Hess explained Helsel was having his knee examined this week and a possible return date was still uncertain.
Sophomore backup quarterback Landon Horstman will also miss tonight's game with concussion symptoms.
"The injury bug's got us, but we're not going to make excuses," Hess said.
Senior running back Cameron Richardson paced South Callaway with 51 yards on just two carries last week and senior quarterback Ethan Livengood finished with 37 yards in nine attempts. Junior running back Harley Kight will also be part of the rotation tonight, while Hess said that sophomore running back Austin Meyer might share the workload.
Hess expects Clopton/Elsberry to throw an assortment of blitzes at the Bulldogs out of its base 3-4 defensive alignment.
"We just have to be ready to pick those up on the offensive line," Hess said. "That's going to kind of change our running-blocking scheme as well, so we just have to communicate really well up front."
South Callaway hosts Clopton/Elsberry - Updates on Twitter: @FultonSunSports. Listen live online: kfalthebig900.com.
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