MOKANE, Mo. - The answer doesn't require a lot of thought for South Callaway head football coach Zack Hess and his assistants when it comes to the tools they prefer.
The Bulldogs showcase an abundance of fast playmakers on offense and defense, which was clearly evident in South Callaway's 38-15 home win against Father Tolton in last week's season opener. The Bulldogs will seek to build off that impressive showing on both sides of the ball when they take a long road trip to the north-central part of the state tonight to face the Milan Wildcats (7 p.m. kickoff).
South Callaway's strong start was fueled by a pestering defense that created five Tolton turnovers, accounting for a pair of touchdowns itself and also setting up a score. The game was less than a minute old when sophomore free safety Peyton Leeper picked up a fumble and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.
Sophomore linebacker Bradyn Belcher then capped off the Bulldogs' triumph when he intercepted a pass and ran it back 65 yards for a score in the fourth quarter.
South Callaway's versatile running game needed about a half to find its rhythm, but eventually generated 325 yards and produced four touchdowns. Junior Dalton Stone picked up a game-high 115 yards, fellow junior Kaden Helsel gained 84 yards and scored twice, while Leeper bolted 66 yards for a touchdown and junior quarterback Landon Horstman scored on a short run.
"We always talk about as a coaching staff, 'Would you rather be big and physical or have athletic guys?'" Hess said after practice Monday night. "A lot of people have different philosophies, but I think the way that we play offense and the way that we play defense fits having the smaller, quick, athletic-type guy better."
The Bulldogs will battle a Milan squad that bowed last week in an opening 25-14 loss at Mark Twain, ranked fifth in Class 1. The Wildcats' wing-T offense is directed by freshman quarterback Ryan Dabney (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) - son of head coach John Dabney - and features senior running back Jaidyn Watts (5-7, 170).
Watts rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries last week, according to the Kirksville Daily Express, as Milan finished with 214 yards on the ground. Sophomore running back Jamuel Pagan (5-11, 170) also had 55 yards in 12 attempts, while senior running back Austin Fordyce (6-1, 250) finished with 14 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
"He runs the system well, he gets them in and out of the huddle," Hess said of Ryan Dabney. "We haven't seen any mistakes in terms of a missed assignment or getting the ball to the wrong player.
"(Watts) is their go-to guy. He runs with that forward lean. When we watched the (long running) play against Mark Twain, they had three or four opportunities to tackle this kid and he broke all of their tackles. An arm-tackle is not going to tackle this kid, we have to swarm very well and make sure we fit him up."
Hess liked how his defense got off the field last week, limiting Tolton to 4-of-12 on third-down chances, and he stressed that the unit will need to duplicate that effort tonight. He also explained that the Bulldogs can't surrender big plays after allowing a 57-yard touchdown run by the Trailblazers.
"I think (Milan's) offensive line is going to be very physical and that we're going to have to really play well up front," Hess said. "We're going to need to tackle well and read our keys, and play disciplined defense.
" We have to win on first down."
Defensively, Hess noted the Wildcats will line up in a 3-5 scheme that gave up 319 total yards - including 287 rushing - to Mark Twain. South Callaway will put an emphasis on doing a better job of protecting the ball after committing four turnovers - including three fumbles - last week.
"Their D-line is big, so we're going to have to make sure we fire off the ball and do our assignments well," Hess said. "Their linebackers do a good job of flowing to the ball and they're always around the ball at the end of the play.
"Their secondary guys are pretty disciplined in what they do. Ultimately, we've just got to make sure we take care of the ball."
With the Bulldogs running so effectively against Tolton, Horstman supplemented that facet by completing 5-of-10 passes for 92 yards with an interception. He connected with junior wide receiver Jarrett Livengood for a 30-yard gain to set up Helsel's 21-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, but Horstman also had a 42-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Austin Meyer erased by a penalty in the third quarter.
"I was very impressed with the way Landon threw the ball," Hess said. "He was on point, on target, and our receivers caught the ball well, ran good routes. Any time that you can pass the ball, it really does a lot for your running game. It opens up the playbook.
" Landon did a nice job of passing the ball off of our run game. That's really what we have to do. If we run the ball well, then the passing game should be there, just because they work off of each other."
Updates on Twitter: @FultonSunSports