LAKE OZARK, Mo. - After an uneven start to the season, the School of the Osage Indians have put it all together the past two weeks.
And Osage wants to keep the momentum going tonight when it travels to Ashland to meet Southern Boone in Tri-County Conference action (7 p.m. kickoff).
Osage comes in with a 3-1 overall record, 2-0 in conference. Southern Boone is trying to snap a two-game losing skid that has left them 2-2 and 0-2.
Both teams were state-ranked earlier in the campaign. The Indians struggled with a slew of turnovers the first two weeks and after pulling out a season-opening victory against Fulton, Osage fell to state-ranked Seneca 27-7 in Week 2.
However, the past two weeks the turnovers have gone down while the Indian production has soared, piling up 69 points while allowing just one TD during that time. Last week Osage pounded Warsaw 38-0.
"I thought we played our best game all year," Osage head coach Devin Johnson said of last week's romp. "We took care of the football and defensively made the big plays."
Conversely, Southern Boone has struggled the last two weeks in large part due to injuries. The Eagles suffered their first loss to Eldon 29-7 two weeks ago and last week dropped a heart-breaker to Hallsville 28-24.
Southern Boone head coach Trent Tracy was without Eagle leading rusher Jackson Sartain last week. And even though his replacement, junior Colby Phillips, had his moments, the Eagles certainly missed Sartain.
He is supposed to be back to meet the Indians tonight.
Southern Boone is averaging 19.3 points per game while allowing 24.3 points.
Johnson isn't looking at the numbers. He knows when Osage meets Southern Boone, it's usually a tight battle. Last year, the Indians defeated the Eagles 32-17 in a home contest.
"They're really a good football team," Johnson said of the Eagles. "They've got a lot of good athletes and are big and strong up front. They've had a few injuries the last couple of weeks and will be more healthy against us this week.
"Every time we play them it's been a dogfight. They will be physical and they play really well at home. They always have a good home crowd and it will be tough."
And it begins a tough conference stretch for the Indians. Following this week, Osage travels to an improved Versailles squad before host defending Tri-County champion and current No. 2 state-ranked Blair Oaks in its Homecoming Game. On Oct. 6, Osage will travel to state-ranked Eldon.
And, after a regular-season finale home contest against California, the Indians face a tough Class 3 District 3 which features undefeated St. James, Springfield Catholic (3-1), Eldon and high-scoring defending district champion Owensville.
"This is really a good conference," Johnson said. "Every week is going to be a tough game. Nothing comes easy here on out. And that's what you want, for the conference to prepare you for district."
Osage comes into tonight averaging 27.0 points while allowing 14.8 points.
The offense has been balanced, as senior quarterback Zach Wheeler has completed 55-of-95 passes for 619 yards, with seven TDs and nine interceptions. Senior wideout Drake Gaines has caught 18 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns while junior wideout Dalton Depee has 19 receptions for 162 yards and two TDs and senior running back Nick Riley 10 catches for 100 yards and two TDs.
Riley paces the ground game with 326 yards on 52 carries and five TDs while senior running back Austin Magnuson has 231 rushing yards on 44 attempts and two touchdowns.
Against Hallsville last week, Wheeler passed for 145 yards, with Gaines catching three passes for 69 yards, while Riley and Magnuson rushed for 77 and 51 yards respectively.
Magnuson, a linebacker, paces the squad with 63 tackles while Nick Riley has 44 tackles at linebacker, junior linebacker Traygen Whittle has 34 tackles, linebacker Depee 33 and senior defensive back Ben Baker 32. Junior lineman Garrett Sutherland and senior lineman Josh McCubbin each have three sacks.
"We really try to be balanced," Johnson said. "Our passing game is really predicated by the running game. The last two weeks we've simplified things, tried to get back to basics."