After a extensive conversation with the players and coaches, Jefferson City coach Terry Walker still had more to discuss with the team's captains.
"The message was pretty simple: you've got to decide kind of what you want to do," Walker said after Friday's 42-7 loss to sixth-ranked De Smet at Adkins Stadium. "If you really want to do this thing, it's tough to do. It's hard work, it's tough physically, it's tough mentally. The kids have selected good captains. We believe in them, we believe in all the kids. We've got work to do, that's the bottom line."
All four captains - Devin Roberson, Corey Suttle, Ryan Brooks and Christian White - were recognized prior to the game for Senior Night.
Through the first four games of the season, the seniors had already reached the same win total they did as juniors. Three weeks later, they're still trying for win No. 4 of the season.
A three-game losing streak has followed a three-game winning streak for the Jays, who likely played their final home game of the season Friday with road games against Class 5 No. 7 Battle and Class 6 No. 3 Rockhurst up next before district play begins.
"We knew going in that this was going to be a challenging year because we're trying to teach the kids to play both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball," Walker said, "which we have to do because when the schools split we're going to have a smaller group of kids to choose from."
Roberson, White, Suttle, Devin White and Brandon Backues all played both ways Friday night, and have all season. Others have also spent time on both sides of the ball this season.
On top of that, some have even played multiple positions on one side of the ball.
Suttle has played his usual spot at defensive end this season, but has also played tight end and tackle on offense.
Roberson plays opposite Suttle on the defensive line and is also the starting quarterback, but he went to the fullback spot a times Friday night with Cole Gresham under center.
On the first play Roberson lined up at fullback, he ran up the middle, broke a tackle and was off for an 80-yard touchdown with 2:58 left in the first quarter. It appeared to catch the Spartans off guard.
"I think so and again we executed well on that play, but then after you do it two or three times they make adjustments," Walker said. "Now we've got to be able to adjust in order to continue to execute. There's only so much scheming you can do. At some point in time you've just got to line up and play."
Jefferson City never got consistency out of its rushing attack against the fast a physical Spartans, who held the Jays to 104 yards the rest of the game with 52 of those coming on a run by Maleek Jackson late in the first half.
"I think that's kind of our M-O the last couple weeks is we have started off games offensively moving the football and then the other team makes adjustments and ultimately it comes down to a one-on-one on each and every single play," Walker said. "And once they kind of get a feel for what you're trying to do, then now you actually have to engage with your technique and your fundamentals in order to make it happen.
"That's where we've been struggling a little bit, but we will continue to work and I have every confidence the kids will play incredibly hard and we will continue to improve."
Roberson's touchdown plus a Ben Folz extra point cut De Smet's lead to 14-7.
But the Spartans punched it into the end zone three times in their next four drives to lead 34-7 at halftime.
Nate Martens threw a pass up to 6-foot-2 Jordan Johnson for a 27-yard touchdown about 4 minutes into the second quarter.
De Smet then ran it seven times on a nine-play, 38-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by 5-foot-8 sophomore back Darez Snider with 2:26 left before halftime. Backues blocked the extra-point attempt to keep the score 27-7.
Snider ran it 19 times for 78 yards and three scores, including a 2-yarder midway through the first quarter for the first points of the game. Taj Butts added 55 yards on seven rushes, including a 5-yard touchdown to put De Smet up 14-0 with 3:13 left in the first quarter.
"Their offensive line and defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, and in a football game that goes 99 percent of the way towards determining the outcome," Walker said. "They had some really good looking linemen on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball that just controlled the pace. We had a couple series where I thought our kids did OK. Sometimes we have them bottled up and we missed some tackles. We'll keep working."
A Seth Harris interception then set up De Smet at the Jays' 20-yard line and it took Snider two runs to reach the end zone for the final score of the first half.
Jefferson City had a chance to answer after Jackson's 52-yard run placed the Jays at the 28-yard line.
A 3-yard run by Jackson followed before three incompletions turned the ball over on downs.
Jackson carried the ball 16 times for 90 yards, breaking a streak of four straight games with at least 100 yards on the ground.
The final touchdown of the game came about midway though the third quarter when De Smet speedster Ra'shod Smith-Harvey ran across the field and caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Martens, who completed 11-of-14 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
Smith-Harvey caught four passes for 83 yards for De Smet (5-2), which now has more wins this season than the last three years combined.
Kickoff for Friday's game at Battle is 7 p.m.