School of the Osage sees dangerous foe in winless Warsaw

School of the Osage running back Dylan Riley attempts to pull away from Hallsville defender Jadon Kilpack during last Friday night's game at Hallsville.
School of the Osage running back Dylan Riley attempts to pull away from Hallsville defender Jadon Kilpack during last Friday night's game at Hallsville.

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - School of the Osage head coach Devin Johnson puts no stock in the winless record the Warsaw Wildcats will bring into tonight's Tri-County Conference clash.

He instead sees a squad that averages more than 300 yards of total offense per game that must be dealt with.

After a two-game road trip, the Osage Indians return home to take on Warsaw (7 p.m. kickoff).

Osage, which moved back into the Missouri Media Class 3 state poll at No. 10 this week, comes in 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference while Warsaw is 0-3 and 0-1.

Last week the Indians opened league play by whipping Hallsville 40-20 while the Wildcats dropped a 33-7 league decision to California.

Osage posted a 42-13 victory last season against Warsaw.

Warsaw has put up some scary numbers this fall even though its still searching for its first win.

The Wildcats are averaging 310 yards of total offense this season, having rushed for a total of 606 yards. However, the big yardage totals haven't translated into points. Warsaw is averaging just 16.3 points three games in while allowing an average of 38.3.

"We need to learn how to finish drives on offense," Warsaw head coach Paul Thomas said. "We need to block and tackle better; it's pretty simple.

"We're driving it from the 20 (yardline) to the 20; we get inside the 20 we don't finish. Last week four times we were inside the 20 and didn't score. Penalties and just mistakes killed us."

Leading the charge for Warsaw is sophomore quarterback Matt Luebbert, who has completed 20-for-40 passes for 317 yards, three interceptions and two touchdowns while rushing for 155 yards on 30 carries and a pair of TDs.

Junior running back Kegan Glenn has rushed for 300 yards on 60 carries and a TD while sophomore Eli Hawkins has 94 rushing yards on 23 attempts.

The Wildcats' go-to receiver is senior wideout Trenton Simons, who has 11 catches for 166 yards and a touchdown. Junior wideout Jayden Schepker has four catches for 61 yards and senior wideout Drue Hammond has caught two passes for 87 yards and a TD.

Senior linebacker Michael Pierce paces the Warsaw defense with 33 tackles (16 solo) and a sack while senior linebacker Dakota Bilderback has 25 tackles (14 solo); sophomore defensive back Dalton Nichols 19 tackles (13 solo) and a interception, and sophomore linebacker Levi Lawson 19 tackles (10 solo).

"They average over 300 yards a game but the point-total is not reflecting that," Johnson said. "The do a great job of moving the ball down field. They average five yards a carry and seven yards a pass. Penalties and some negative plays have hurt them. They would get down there and it would be 2nd-and-15. They're a young team.

"Glenn is a tough kid and a physical runner who gets a lot of yards after contact. (Luebbert) might be one of the most explosive players in the conference. And he does a good job on the play fake."

Osage is averaging 34.3 points per game while allowing an average of 20.0.

For the Indians junior quarterback Zach Wheeler has completed 27-of-52 passes for 488 yards, one interception and six touchdowns. Last week Wheeler threw four TD passes - three to senior wideout Jason Edwards, who now has 10 catches for 185 yards (18.5 per catch average). Also for Osage junior wideout Drake Gaines has six receptions for 119 yards (19.8) and a TD and sophomore wideout Dalton Depee has four catches for 142 yards (35.5) and three touchdowns.

Junior running back Nick Riley paces Osage in rushing with 340 yards on 40 carries (8.5) and a TD while senior running back Dylan Riley has 123 yards on 19 carries (6.5) and five touchdowns.

Depee, a linebacker, leads the Indians with 29 tackles (18 solo) and a sack while junior back Ian Riley has 27 tackles (15 solo); senior back Max Maples 27 tackles (11 solo); junior linebacker Austin Magnuson 27 tackles (14 solo) including four for losses, and senior lineman Max Dreier has seven tackles for losses and one sack.

"They're well-coached," Thomas said of Osage. "They're 3-0 and they block and tackle well. They're an aggressive football team and they play hard. Coach Johnson does a nice job. Their quarterback is a good player and their wideouts and running backs do a good job. Defensively they fly around and tackle."

Osage hosts Warsaw

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