The beginning of the district playoffs is a time to pull out the clichés.
Everyone is 0-0. A new-beginning. A re-do. A fresh start. Wipe the slate clean. The second season.
Pick your favorite.
And for the School of the Osage Indians, that's a good thing.
The seventh-seeded Indians indeed get a fresh start tonight after a rugged 2018 campaign, as they travel to second-seeded Buffalo for first-round play in the Class 3 District 5 Tournament.
Springfield Catholic (7-2) is the District 5 top seed with 40.57 district points while Buffalo (7-2) is No. 2 with 38.75, St. James (5-4) No. 3 with 34.69, Eldon (5-4) No. 4 with 31.83, Salem (3-6) No. 5 with 25.77, Owensville (2-7) No. 6 with 21.42, School of the Osage (2-7) No. 7 with 19.08 and Logan-Rogersville (0-9) No. 8 with 18.11.
In other first-round district games tonight, Owensville plays at St. James; Salem at Eldon, and Logan-Rogersville at Catholic.
In semifinal games on Nov. 2 (played at higher district seed), the St. James-Owensville winner plays the Buffalo-Osage winner while the Salem-Eldon winner meets the Catholic-Rogersville winner.
The district title game is set for Nov. 9.
Osage head coach Devin Johnson thinks the struggles of the regular season has battle-tested his squad for a district race that - on paper - doesn't seem to include a juggernaut.
And he still has confidence in his squad, feeling if Osage can hang onto the ball - a big if this fall - the Indians can compete with anyone in District 5.
"Luckily for us, playing in the Tri-County Conference you're tested every week," Johnson said. "We're starting to figure out who we can be. We still feel we can be a team challenging for this district."
And the No. 7 seed can be a good thing for the Indians.
"Really, there is nothing wrong with being an underdog," Johnson said. "Our goal is another week, same as every team in the state. We're no different."
Osage wrapped up the uneven regular season by falling to Tri-County rival Eldon 31-12 last week to end league play 1-6.
The turnover bug that has plagued the Indians throughout the season struck again last week, as they committed six of them to make things easier for the Mustangs.
After a scoreless first quarter, the turnover problems began for Osage, as Eldon took advantage to score a pair of touchdowns in each of the second and third quarters to take control. It was 14-0 at halftime. Osage scored both of its touchdowns in the third period and trailed 28-12 entering the fourth quarter.
Senior quarterback Dalton Depee was the offensive highlight for the Indians, rushing for 176 yards on 20 attempts and a TD. He completed 6-of-15 passes for 77 yards and two interceptions. He also threw a TD pass to senior wideout Garrett Sutherland.
To get out of the first round Osage must hang on to the ball. The Indians have committed 22 turnovers in nine games, including 15 fumbles.
"Last week was a good, competitive game," Johnson said "The thing that killed us was turnovers. We moved the ball - we only punted once. But you turn it over six times. We can't do that in district play."
Not against a Buffalo team that doesn't seem to need any help. The southwest Missouri squad wrapped up a 7-2 regular season by blasting Forsyth 54-7 last week.
Buffalo opened the season by handing returning state quarterfinalist Ava its lone defeat so far in 2018, 20-16. The Bison then suffered back-to-back losses, including a 35-21 setback to Osage's Tri-County Conference rival Versailles.
Since then the Bison have reeled off six consecutive victories, scoring at least 48 points four times in that span. Buffalo averages 36.1 points per game.
The Bison are a run-first team, as they are averaging 241.8 rushing yards per game.
Sophomore quarterback Jamen Smith leads the way, having rushed for 1,207 yards (7.7 avg.) and 17 touchdowns. He has completed 45-of-93 passes for 643 yards, five interceptions and seven TDs.
Other threats in the Buffalo backfield include junior back Coltin Henderson with 395 yards on 82 carries and six TDs; senior Keaton Rackley 240 yards and five TDs; junior Cole Bass 178 yards and three TDs, and senior Bradley Hosiner 135 yards and three TDs.
Hosiner is the team's top receiver, with 16 catches for 257 yards and three scores.
"They run the ball very well," Johnson said of Buffalo. "Their quarterback is very good, and he's a sophomore. Their running backs have been pretty good. And they have good size up front; they can control the ball."
The Buffalo defense is allowing 17.8 points per game.
Senior safety Ethan Smith paces the Bison defense with 94 tackles while Hosiner, an inside linebacker, has 90 and senior linebacker Brandon Griffin 69.
Junior lineman Ty Tasker leads Buffalo with four sacks while Henderson, an outside linebacker, and sophomore back Bode Abraham each have four interceptions.
"Defensively they run a 4-3 (formation) and do a good job of eliminating the big play," Johnson said of the Bison. "They keep everything in front of them. They're just a good, solid 4-3 team."
For the Indians, Depee has 646 rushing yards (5.7) and five touchdowns and has completed 47-of-118 passes for 529 yards, seven interceptions and six TDs.
Junior running back Jack Dulle has 246 rushing yards and sophomore Mason Clarke 240 yards.
Junior wideout Logan Havner has 14 receptions for 129 yards and Sutherland 13 catches for 208 yards and three TDs.
Depee, a safety, paces the Indian defense with 99 tackles while junior linebackers James Hutchcraft and Drew Edwards have 86 and 76, respectively.