School of the Osage looks for second win this season vs. Eldon

Osage senior wideout Jason Edwards catches a pass against Eldon in Tri-County Conference play earlier this month in Osage Beach. The two rivals will meet again tonight in the Class 3 District 3 semifinals.
Osage senior wideout Jason Edwards catches a pass against Eldon in Tri-County Conference play earlier this month in Osage Beach. The two rivals will meet again tonight in the Class 3 District 3 semifinals.

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - The rematch is on.

The School of the Osage/Eldon rivalry hits another high point tonight, as a berth in the district championship game is on the line.

Tonight, longtime Tri-County Conference rivals Osage and Eldon will collide for the second time this season in the semifinals of the Class 3 District 3 playoffs. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. in Osage Beach.

The second-seeded Osage Indians, ranked eighth in the final regular-season Missouri Media Rankings Class 3 state poll, bring in a sterling 9-1 record. The sixth-seeded Eldon Mustangs, winners of five of their last six games, are 6-4.

The Osage/Eldon survivor moves on to the championship game Nov. 4 against the winner of tonight's other semifinal game featuring fourth-seeded Sullivan (5-5) at top-seeded Owensville (10-0).

In first-round district games last week Osage clipped seventh-seeded St. James 28-25; Eldon upset third-seeded Springfield Catholic 32-0; Owensville hammered eighth-seeded Buffalo 69-28; and Sullivan topped fifth-seeded Logan-Rogersville 46-30.

There will be no secrets when the Indians and Mustangs hook up tonight. During the past four seasons the teams have split four games, with Osage whipping an injury-riddled Eldon squad 32-6 on Oct. 7 in league play at Osage Beach.

"Playing Eldon is really fun," said Osage coach Devin Johnson, who participated in the rivalry back when he was a student-athlete for the Indians. "Playing in Week 11 is even more fun."

"It's not every year in athletics you get a re-do," said Eldon coach Shannon Jolley. "(But) we've been in this situation before, with Osage in our conference and district. We're very excited about the opportunity to play Osage."

Both coaches said they have never had as many injury situations to deal with as in 2016.

At one point this fall, the Mustangs were without their top offensive lineman, a returning 1,000-yard rusher and a starting quarterback. Osage has had three ACL knee tears and a torn labrum to key personnel this fall, and last week was without seven players who began the season as starters.

The Eldon injury situation got much better last week with the return of senior fullback/linebacker Trenton Kidwell, who suffered a broken leg in the season-opener. He rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown against Springfield Catholic and is slated to start on both sides of the ball tonight.

"Trenton, not only on offense but defensively as well, gave us a lift last week," Jolley said. "It was ironic that on the first series he recovered a fumble for us and then scored the first touchdown."

Last week Osage was without leading rusher Nick Riley and starting senior nose guard David Wermuth due to concussions as well as standout senior linebacker Max Drier with a torn ACL. Drier is out the rest of the season and the availability of Riley and Wermuth tonight will be determined at game time, according to Johnson. Also, sophomore linebacker/receiver Dalton Depee is day-to-day with a shoulder injury.

It took Osage a while to adjust to the missing personnel and had to stage a fourth-quarter rally to beat St. James.

"We were losing in the fourth quarter; coming back to win the game was a testament to our kids," Johnson said. "(Junior running back Austin) Magnuson stepped up in a big way for us.

"And we're catching Eldon the same way we caught St. James - they're coming in playing well. They're coming in confident and playing well. (Getting Kidwell back) affects the whole team; you could tell they were much more confident. Kidwell is a tough runner. He's a bigger kid and defensively he flies around."

The ease in which Eldon dispatched Springfield Catholic surprised many but not the Mustangs themselves, who have been playing their best football of the season in recent weeks.

"We kind of put the pieces together," Jolley said. "I think Catholic was the right opponent for us, with the way they defended us."

And now Eldon wants to continue its hot streak in the rematch with Osage.

"We did some significant damage to ourselves with assignment issues," Jolley said of the first meeting. "We look to play a cleaner game this time.

"Osage places their individual offensive and defensive players in great position. They do a really good job as a group. Defensively they get to the ball well."

Osage is led by junior quarterback Zach Wheeler, who has completed 124-of-217 passes for 1,779 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

He has rangy wideouts to throw to in senior Jason Edwards (39 receptions, 575 yards, eight touchdowns) and junior Drake Gaines (34 catches, 526 yards, five TDs). Also for the Indians junior tight end James McCann has 19 receptions for 273 yards and two touchdowns and Depee has 10 catches for 177 yards and four touchdowns.

In Nick Riley's absence last week, Magnuson stepped in and rushed for 113 yards.

Nick Riley, a junior, leads the team with 735 rushing yards on 87 attempts while senior short-yardage specialist Dylan Riley has 289 yards on 65 carries and 10 touchdowns; Magnuson 238 yards on 34 carries; junior Hunter Davidson 124 yards on 20 attempts, and Wheeler 100 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Magnuson, a linebacker, is also the team's top tackler with 119 (56 solo) while Dylan Riley, a linebacker, has 89 tackles (34 solo); senior defensive back Max Maples has 86 (42 solo); Depee has 79 (46 solo) with seven tackles for losses and senior lineman Jacob Mason has nine tackles for losses and three sacks.

In just two games, Kidwell has 246 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Junior tailback Isaiah Merida paces the balanced Mustang wing-T rushing attack with 677 yards on 118 carries and six touchdowns while sophomore fullback Isaiah Parsons as 617 yards on 134 carries and 10 touchdowns; junior wingback Trenton Dillon 152 yards on 17 carries, and junior Jordan Metz 111 yards on 38 carries.

Nearly half of senior quarterback Austin Kempker's pass completions have gone for touchdowns. He has hit on 22-of-52 passes for 474 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Senior tight end Jacob Whittle has 12 receptions for 295 yards and five touchdowns and senior wideout Morgan Anderson has just six catches for 53 yards, but four of them have gone for a TD.

Parsons paces the Mustangs in tackles with 120 (42 solo), and has 16.5 tackles for losses. Also, sophomore defensive back Dawson Brandt has 114 tackles (51 solo) including 10.5 tackles for losses and two interceptions; junior linebacker Cole Walker has 96 tackles (21 solo), and Dillon, a linebacker, has 57 tackles (24 solo) with 13.5 tackles for losses, including 8.5 QB sacks.

CLASS 3 Bracket

Eldon hosts Osage, 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, 2016

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