LAKE OZARK, Mo. - The end of last season left a sour taste in the mouths of the School of the Osage Indians.
A bitter 39-36 district defeat at the hands of conference rival Eldon brought Osage's 2016 season to a close despite a sterling 9-2 record.
Now, with another potentially explosive offensive attack, the Indians want another chance to go far in the postseason.
The Indians open the season tonight at Fulton in a non-conference clash. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Osage averaged nearly 35 points per game with its spread offense a year ago. And from that squad, seven offensive and five defensive starters return.
"Everyone's healthy," said Devin Johnson, entering his fourth season as Indian head coach. "It's been a good summer and it's gotten to that point we're ready to hit somebody else.
"This group of seniors were freshmen when I got here, so they know what to expect. It's exciting to have a group of kids who have been in your system their whole career."
Osage has strong returners at quarterback, running back and wide receiver as well as a veteran line.
Key returners on offense include senior quarterback Zach Wheeler, senior running back Nick Riley, senior wide receiver Drake Gaines, senior center Kevin Weatherspoon, senior guard Chris Halsell, senior left tackle Gage Swofford, senior right tackle Alex Bradley and junior wide receiver Dalton Depee.
Despite missing two games and being limited in a couple of others due to injury, Riley rushed for 909 yards on 104 carries and four touchdowns a year ago.
Wheeler hit on 138-of-248 passes for 1,946 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has a couple of big-play threats in Gaines (37 receptions for 585 yards, 6 touchdowns last season) and Depee (13 catches for 205 yards, eight total touchdowns).
All-state senior inside linebacker Austin Magnuson (137 tackles, 67 solo) returns to anchor the Indian defense, along with Depee (88 tackles, 50 solo) at outside linebacker, senior Ian Riley (65 tackles, 5 int.) at cornerback and Nick Riley at strong safety. New defensive starters include junior defensive lineman Mason Etter, junior linebacker Traygen Whittle and senior free safety Ben Baker.
The Fulton Hornets have suffered heavy graduation losses from last season's 5-6 unit.
Blake Logan takes over as Fulton head coach this fall. Logan was an assistant coach for the Jefferson City Jays last season and previous to that had five years of head coaching experience.
"It's been a hard-working group," said Logan, who has just three starters back on offense and four on defense. "It's a good core group of leaders. We have a new staff, with just one coach back. And the kids are responding well to everything we've asked them to do."
Logan said he seeks a balanced offense, working mainly from the spread.
The first thing he'll have to do is settle on a new quarterback, as record-setting Devin Masek is gone. The candidates are junior Evan Gray and sophomore Tyler Fayler, although neither is a clear-cut winner of the position heading into the opener.
Whoever the quarterback is, he'll have some talent to throw to.
All-state senior wide receiver Trey Vaughn is back as is senior receiver Makygh Galbreath.
Vaughn, who had 52 receptions for 869 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016, will play more in the slot and at tight end this year. Galbreath, an all-state defensive back with six interceptions, also had 40 catches for 457 yards and five touchdowns.
Also back are all-conference safety Tucker Caswell (97 tackles), senior middle linebacker LeEhuion Williams (73 tackles) and two-way senior lineman Colton Bristol.
"They have a new coach with a lot of experience under his belt," Johnson said of Fulton. "They're very athletic with big-play potential. In the jamboree they ran their base offense and defense and played it very well.
"It will come down to the big play and if we do have negative plays how we react to that."
Stopping Osage's high-fire attack will be the top priority for the Hornets.
"I think Osage is a very well-coached group, have four or five offensive linemen back and are pretty fundamentally sound," Logan said. "We'll try to do what we can to match their attention to detail.
"It is a good barometer for the first week; to see where we are on both sides of the ball. We're looking forward to the challenge."