MOKANE, Mo. - Almost three years removed from playing for a Class 2 state championship, the South Callaway Bulldogs have the profile and pieces in place to make another playoff run.
South Callaway - which has been absent from the postseason since that title-game appearance - brings back eight starters on both offense and defense from last year's squad that finished 10-1 after a 26-20 loss to Hermann in the Class 2 District 5 semifinals.
The Bulldogs open the 2017 season tonight with a trip to Columbia and a clash with the Father Tolton Trailblazers. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Any discussion of playoff potential, though, is considered premature by Zack Hess, who prefers a more measured, incremental approach.
"We're just focused on not going into the season thinking about big picture," said Hess, who heads into his third year as South Callaway head coach. "We're going into, 'Let's get to 1-0,' and then let's just keep building off of that.
"So far, I think the players have done a good job of staying within themselves and just starting small."
It's difficult to not ponder the potent possibilities for the Bulldogs' offense, which returns nearly all of the talent from last year's unit that piled up a mind-bending 408.5 yards and 42.9 points per game.
Senior quarterback Landon Horstman will again direct South Callaway's flexbone option attack in his second year as a starter. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Horstman was a dynamic dual threat last season, passing for 1,227 yards (58-of-111), 15 touchdowns and only five interceptions.
The mobile Horstman also rushed for 510 yards (6.6 per carry) and added nine scores.
"That's good for our offense because he's the second option in the triple option," Hess said. "For him to be able to do that and also to be able to distribute the ball through the air is a nice weapon to have."
The Bulldogs - who averaged 283 yards on the ground - also bring back their leading rusher from the 2016 season, senior running back Kaden Helsel (6-0, 180). Helsel gained 827 yards (10.7 average) and scored 12 touchdowns, while also finishing with 17 catches for 488 yards and five scores.
"He's good with the ball in his hands, he's a physical runner," Hess said. "He doesn't have that elite speed. He's fast, but he's not super-fast.
"He has a high football IQ and I think that allows him to play faster. He's just very aggressive."
South Callaway returns its fastest player in junior Peyton Leeper (5-10, 175), who will take snaps at quarterback as Horstman's backup but will also line up at running back. Leeper accumulated 541 yards rushing (6.6 average) and scored eight touchdowns.
"There's some things that you can do within our offense with Peyton as a running back, but then also kind of as a decoy," Hess said. "He can throw the ball really well. He's just a really good athlete."
Senior running back Dalton Stone (5-7, 155) also returns to the South Callaway backfield after producing 432 yards (7.5 average) and six scores last year.
"We call him 'the squirm,' he's real squirmy in and out of the line of scrimmage," Hess said. "He's a one cut and he'll run it all the way across the field."
Bradyn Belcher - a 5-10, 200-pound junior - will bring some crunching heft to the fullback position for the Bulldogs. Belcher finished with 106 yards (4.2 average) and one score in 2016.
Horstman will benefit from the return of his top receiver from last season, senior Jarrett Livengood, as well as fellow senior Austin Meyer. Livengood (6-0, 160) led the team with 25 catches for 416 yards (16.6 average) and five touchdowns, while Meyer (6-3, 175) had nine receptions for 292 yards and two scores.
"It's nice to have those big, physical guys out on the perimeter within our offense, with what we do," Hess said. "A lot of our running attack is on the perimeter - it's nice to have those big guys out there that can block.
"Not just block, they can run good routes and catch the ball, too."
The most pressing concern for Hess will be up front, where the Bulldogs were exploited by Hermann on both the offensive and defensive lines in the second half of their District 5 semifinal loss. Senior Hunter Schroer (6-5, 240) - an offensive right tackle and defensive end - is South Callaway's lone starting lineman to return on either side of the ball.
"He's pretty athletic for a big guy, moves real well, he's got good feet," Hess said. "We're still working on his leverage a little bit because he likes to stand up, he's real tall and sometimes that makes it hard for him."
Candidates seeking playing time on the Bulldogs' offensive line will include senior Clayton Knipfel (5-11, 180) and sophomore Caleb Hall (6-4, 190) at left tackle, senior Cody Renner (5-9, 170) and junior Dustin Loucks (5-9, 185) at left guard, senior Jared Stieferman (5-10, 150) and Loucks at center, and senior Logan Jacobs at right guard.
"Those guys have to get used to each other's calls, they have to get used to each other's movements," Hess said. "The more that they can work together without having to think a lot about it - it just takes repetition.
"The more plays that we run, the more fronts that we see, the more opponents we see, I think the better it's going to be."
Jacobs, Renner, Loucks and Hall will also be part of the rotation on the defensive line at nose tackle and opposite Schroer at the other end position.
"There's a lot of learning to be done, even with the basic things, but they've gotten a lot better since we went to SBU (Southwest Baptist University) team camp, to now," Hess said. "We're lacking in size a little bit, but we hope some of our quickness will make up with that."
The main force of South Callaway's defense - which surrendered a sparse 10.5 points per game in 2016 - mans the middle in the shape of a menacing group of linebackers. Helsel and Horstman will hold down the outside spots, while Stone, Belcher and Knipfel will occupy the inside positions.
Helsel paced the Bulldogs with 80 tackles last season and also had two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
"Kaden has felt more and more comfortable moving down, because his sophomore year he played a lot of safety," Hess said. "He's done a great job, he's really got a nose for the ball.
"He's real aggressive, he's a very downhill-type of guy."
Leeper will anchor South Callaway's secondary again at free safety, where he scored two defensive touchdowns, shared the team lead with four interceptions and was second with 78 tackles. He also recovered two fumbles.
"He's almost like having a coach on the field," Hess said. "He makes all those calls and he has a real good nose for the ball, just like Kaden, but at the same time he's a little more patient and lets the plays develop.
"At the free safety, that's what we want. We don't want to get beat deep."
Meyer and Livengood will join Leeper in the secondary at the cornerback spots. Meyer compiled 59 tackles and an interception in 2016, while Livengood totalled 29 tackles and two interceptions.
The Bulldogs rolled to a 38-15 triumph against Tolton in last year's season opener at Mokane.
The Trailblazers went 5-6 after bowing to Brentwood in the other District 5 semifinal.
"They've got some guys that we're going to have to be ready for and prepare well for," Hess said. "It's a tough challenge and they're well-coached, and they run a challenging offense.
"We've got our work cut out for us in Week 1."