OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - As a former Indians player and now the current head coach for the School of the Osage, Devin Johnson has a unique perspective on the matter when he calls the Osage vs. Eldon football rivalry perhaps the best in the Tri-County Conference.
That rivalry resumes tonight, when Osage hosts the Eldon Mustangs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Osage comes in after suffering its first loss of the season, falling to unbeaten league foe Blair Oaks 40-16 last week. Eldon is coming off a 38-12 Tri-County Homecoming victory against Versailles.
The Indians are 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the conference, while the Mustangs are 4-3 and 3-2.
Johnson calls the annual Osage-Eldon clash intense as well as fun.
"Eldon-Osage is a good rivalry," Johnson said. "I've coached at four schools and this is the best. Of course, being an Osage grad makes it nice. It's a fun rivalry that both schools have done the right way."
In recent years, it has also been a highly competitive rivalry, with the two schools splitting the previous four meetings. Eldon won scorefests last year (52-49) and again in 2013 (56-38). Osage prevailed in 2014 (21-16) and 2012 (47-20).
The Indians are hoping the recent even-year trend continues.
"This game is always good," Eldon coach Shannon Jolley said. "The game was back and forth the last few years. They're obviously, on paper, a better football team. We'll just keep working toward Week 10."
In last week's battle of unbeatens, the final score was a bit deceiving. Osage jumped out to a 13-0 advantage five minutes in and trailed just 20-16 at intermission. However, five turnovers came back to haunt the Indians, as Blair Oaks outscored Osage 20-0 during the final two quarters.
"We started off as well as we could," Johnson said. "We had 280 yards in the first half. We just couldn't get anything going in the second half. We just couldn't close it.
"You can't turn the ball over against a good team like Blair Oaks. Plus we gave them a short field on a couple of their touchdowns."
This week, Osage takes on an Eldon squad that has suffered yet another costly injury.
In the first quarter against Versailles, senior quarterback Austin Kempker went down with an ankle injury. He will miss tonight's game, and Jolley isn't sure when he will be able to return.
"All things considered I'm really proud of our kids," Jolley said. "At one point last week we were without five offensive starters. I've never had a season with the amount of injuries we've had this year; I've talked to some coaches who have. We'll just do the best we can with what we've got."
Sophomore Dawson Brandt replaced Kempker last week and performed well the rest of the way. He'll get the nod again this week at quarterback.
"Dawson will start and do a serviceable job," Jolley said.
Whereas Osage suffered due to turnovers last week, the Mustangs thrived on them. Eldon forced seven Versailles turnovers, including four interceptions, which led to five Mustang touchdowns.
Eldon's run-dominated wing-T offense, averaging 26.3 points per game, will rely on sophomore fullback Isaiah Parsons and junior tailback Isaiah Merida.
Parsons has rushed for 539 yards on 114 carries and eight touchdowns while Merida has 474 yards on 78 attempts and five TDs.
Also, junior running back Trenton Dillon ran for 92 yards on 19 carries last week, including a 51-yard TD run, and now has 141 rushing yards this season.
Senior tight end Jacob Whittle leads the Mustangs in receptions with eight for 212 yards and three touchdowns.
Parsons, a linebacker, leads the team in tackles with 97 (33 solo), including 13.5 tackles for loss.
Also for the Mustang defense Brandt, a back, has 75 tackles (27 solos) and two interceptions, junior linebacker Cole Walker has 70 tackles (10 solo), and Dillon, a linebacker, has 46 tackles (21 solos), including 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
"They do what they do," Johnson said of Eldon. "They run the wing-T with a lot of blasts and dives. Dillon has a lot of speed to get to the edge. Defensively they're aggressive and are going to stop the run and try to force us to throw the ball.
"Against them you've got to be disciplined but you've got to still be aggressive. You can't sit back and wait; you've almost got to press the issue. If they get past the line of scrimmage, it's off to the races."
Eldon will have to slow down an Osage offense that is scoring at a 33.6 points-per-game clip.
Indian junior quarterback Zach Wheeler has completed 73-of-129 passes for 1,051 yards, six interceptions and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 108 yards on 22 carries and three TDs.
Senior wideout Jason Edwards paces a balanced receiving corps with 21 catches for 333 yards and four touchdowns. Also for Osage, junior wideout Drake Gaines has 21 receptions for 279 yards and three touchdowns; sophomore wideout Dalton Depee seven catches for 167 yards and four
touchdowns, and junior tight end James McCann six catches for 107 yards and a TD.
Junior running back Nick Riley paces the Indian ground game with 477 yards on 63 carries while senior Dylan Riley has 248 yards on 46 carries and six touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Austin Magnuson leads the Indians in tackles with 69 (29 solo), including seven for loss. Senior back Max Maples has 68 tackles (31 solo) while Dylan Riley, a linebacker, has 64 (26 solo). Depee, a linebacker, has 60 tackles (35 solo), and McCann, a linebacker, has 46 (17 solo).
Senior linebacker Max Drier has 12 tackles for loss, including three sacks. Junior back Ian Riley has four interceptions while Edwards, a linebacker, has picked off three.
"They throw the ball down field really well," Jolley said of Osage. "Their quarterback throws a good ball and has a high percentage rate. And Coach Johnson does a good job in putting some twists and turns in. And I'm sure they're disappointed after last week."
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