Hard to believe, but the North Callaway Thunderbirds and South Callaway Bulldogs are reaching the end of the second decade in their football rivalry.
When North Callaway travels tonight to Mokane to meet South Callaway in an Eastern Missouri Conference clash, it will also serve as the 20th meeting between the Thunderbirds and Bulldogs in the annual Callaway Cup game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
North Callaway owned the start of the series, winning the first 12 matchups. South Callaway, though, has prevailed in the last seven contests, topped off by a 20-12 victory last year in Kingdom City.
Both teams carry momentum into tonight's showdown. The Bulldogs - who received a pair of votes in this week's Class 2 state poll - are off to a 3-0 start after charging to a 46-6 runaway win at Wright City last week in South Callaway's EMO opener. The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, sit at 2-1 after tallying their second straight victory last week, tripping then-state-ranked Mark Twain 26-16 in North Callaway's home and conference opener.
South Callaway head coach Zack Hess and his North Callaway counterpart, Kevin O'Neal, are both expecting a matchup tonight that best represents their squads and fan bases.
"My hope is that there's a lot of people here, there's good energy, hopefully we get good weather - I've heard it's supposed to rain," Hess said. "Even if it does rain, we just want a good, clean, exciting game."
"It'll be a good time, I think there's a lot of friends in the north and the south," O'Neal said. " It's a friendly rivalry, I have nothing but the utmost respect for those guys.
"I know they coach football the right way, which is awesome. I know it's going to be a good, solid football game."
The Bulldogs' offense continued to be driven by its spirited running game in the win against Wright City. Junior quarterback Landon Horstman rushed for 85 yards on 11 carries and scored on runs of 30 and 9 yards as South Callaway accumulated 264 yards on the ground.
Junior running back Kaden Helsel guided the Bulldogs with 86 yards rushing in only six attempts and had a 3-yard touchdown run. Helsel also grabbed a 31-yard touchdown pass from Horstman, finishing with a team-high three catches for 60 yards.
Junior running back Dalton Stone supplied a 10-yard touchdown run in logging 38 yards on just six carries for South Callaway.
"They're well-balanced, they have a lot of weapons," O'Neal said. "They do a good job of spreading the ball around to a lot of different people and keeping defenses off-balance.
"You can't key on one guy or one thing. That's probably the biggest thing I've noticed - they're going to do what they're going to do and as soon as that defense breaks assignment, then you'll see a long play busted for a touchdown."
North Callaway's defense crafted a pair of critical fourth-down stops in the second half against Mark Twain and sealed the victory with two late turnovers. The Thunderbirds, though, did allow the Tigers to rush for 294 yards as a team.
O'Neal noted North Callaway's defensive unit will have to prevent South Callaway's talented skill players from breaking free on the perimeter.
"Mark Twain's a between-the-tackles, pound-the-ball-at-you, physical game," O'Neal said. "Not that South Callaway doesn't get physical, but they're going to be more on the edge, more speed, try to hit gaps and try to take advantage of holes in the defense."
Hess believes the Thunderbirds' defense will give the Bulldogs "probably the biggest challenge we've had this year, by far."
"I think they're very opportunistic and with their defensive scheme they seem to be very sound in what they do," Hess said. "They understand what their jobs and their roles are, and they do it well.
"Those big guys that are running backs on offense are on defense too - they're physical guys and they're fast."
Ball security and prolonging possessions will be the primary emphasis tonight for the South Callaway offense, according to Hess.
"Again, I just think it's taking care of the ball," Hess said. "With an opportunistic defense, a fast, physical defense, we can't give them short fields.
" We won't have huge-chunk plays every play, so it's consistently getting yards and get first downs, and try to keep our defense off the field."
North Callaway's offense got going quickly last week when senior running back Wyatt Branson bolted 51 yards for a touchdown on the fourth play of the game. After Mark Twain answered with a scoring drive to take the lead, O'Neal took a risk on a fourth-and-13 near midfield and senior quarterback Milo Henry rewarded the gamble by connecting on a 53-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver AJ Stubblefield.
Henry followed with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Branson in the second quarter to put the Thunderbirds up by 10 points at halftime. After the Tigers closed within 18-16 in the fourth quarter, senior running back JT Higgins scored on a 2-yard run to help secure the win.
Henry finished 13-of-20 passing for 215 yards, with two scores and no interceptions. Stubblefield had two catches for 81 yards, while Branson caught five balls for 76 yards and led North Callaway with 53 yards rushing on just five carries.
Hess understands the Thunderbirds certainly have the components in their running game to pose problems for the South Callaway defense.
"The thing that stands out is just the number of athletes that they have and the different things that they can do with their athletes, and just trying to get those guys the ball," Hess said. "When they have the ball, they look good. They're big, physical, fast and make big plays.
"It's going to be important for our guys to do their job, tackle well and just make sure they're in the right place."
The Bulldogs' defense certainly capitalized on mistakes by Wright City last week. South Callaway forced seven turnovers by the Wildcats, setting up three scores, and senior cornerback Brandon Ashley ran back one of his two interceptions for a touchdown. The Bulldogs limited Wright City to 182 yards of total offense.
"They have a lot of speed on defense and they're very aggressive," O'Neal said. "They attack - what they do is stick to their assignment and then once they make a read on a play, man, they're downhill and attacking right now.
"They're probably the most aggressive defense we've seen so far."
O'Neal stressed North Callaway's offense will need a sharp outing tonight if the Thunderbirds intend to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
"We have to make sure that all of our playmakers are ready to go," O'Neal said. "Again, just like South Callaway, I think us offensively, you can't key on one guy.
"Wyatt had a big game for us, but we have other guys who can make plays. Those other guys are going to have to get involved. This is a big game and if you want to be a big-time player, you've got to make big-time plays in big-time games."
One of those pivotal pieces on both offense and defense for the Thunderbirds might not be available tonight. Junior running back-outside linebacker Adam Reno suffered bruised ribs on offense in the second quarter against Mark Twain and O'Neal said he's questionable to play against South Callaway.
North Callaway at South Callaway
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