Tipton hosts Cole Camp in last conference matchup between teams in football

The Tipton offense works on a pass play during a preseason practice last month in Tipton. Head coach Tony Braby believes the Cardinals had the most passing attempts in a single game during his tenure in last Friday's 42-14 loss to Class 1 No. 5 Lincoln.
The Tipton offense works on a pass play during a preseason practice last month in Tipton. Head coach Tony Braby believes the Cardinals had the most passing attempts in a single game during his tenure in last Friday's 42-14 loss to Class 1 No. 5 Lincoln.

TIPTON, Mo. - Tipton head coach Tony Braby thinks his team will rebound from last Friday's 42-14 loss to Class 1 state-ranked Lincoln, thanks to his players being able to move on quickly and focus on tonight's game against Cole Camp.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Tipton

Braby said his team is back to full health for tonight's contest.

Cole Camp (3-3) has had a roller coaster of a season, unable to string together a pair of wins.

The Bluebirds opened the season with a lopsided win against Concordia, then followed with an overtime loss to Warsaw.

In Week 3, Cole Camp won on the road against Carrollton, then lost by six points at home against Cuba.

Cole Camp then beat Sherwood - which will join the Bluebirds in the Ozark Highlands Conference next football season - in a 44-6 rout, only to lose 28-12 last Friday at home against Windsor in its Kaysinger Conference opener.

Tonight's contest is the final conference football matchup between Cole Camp and Tipton.

Cole Camp is joining the newly formed conference just in football, while remaining in the Kaysinger in all other sports. Warsaw is leaving the Tri-County Conference after this season. Other conference members will include Buffalo, Butler and El Dorado Springs.

Tipton (1-5), which is in the midst of a five-game losing streak, is looking to avoid a repeat of last week's loss, where it trailed 13-8 at halftime only to be worn down by Lincoln in the second half.

Braby also wants the Cardinals to tackle better in tonight's game.

Cole Camp had its share of struggles in last Friday's loss as well.

The Bluebirds took an early 6-0 lead, but then they gave up a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter and trailed 15-6 at the half.

Cole Camp scored a touchdown 1:30 into the second half, then gave up back-to-back touchdowns later in the third quarter. Neither team scored in the final 12 minutes.

Tipton is averaging 14.0 points per game and allowing 32.7 points. Cole Camp is scoring 28.5 points per contest and giving up an average of 20.o points.

It will be tricky for Tipton, as Braby expects Cole Camp to heavily rely on the running game. But Braby felt if the defense can read Cole Camp's offensive line, which likes to pull in one direction during a run, then Tipton should be able to negate the running game.

On offense, Tipton is looking to continue where it left off last week with passing the ball. Last week, Braby believes the Cardinals passed the ball the most they have in a single game, and he wants to keep passing at a high level. He wants the team to focus on moving the ball to the outside and avoid trying to go up the middle when facing the Bluebirds.