OSAGE BEACH - The School of the Osage Indians are learning a tough lesson this season: Turn the ball over frequently, you're probably going to lose.
That has been the case for the squad in an up-and-down season to date. Osage hopes to hang on to the ball and hang up a victory tonight when it returns home to host new Tri-County Conference foe Boonville tonight (7 p.m. kickoff).
Osage is back home after playing its last three games on the road.
The Indians and Pirates both come in with records of 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Boonville is coming off a dominating 43-0 victory against California. Osage committed six turnovers last week in a 40-15 loss to Tri-County foe Hallsville.
"We turned the ball over quite a bit," said Osage head coach Devin Johnson of last week's defeat. "Offensively we moved the ball pretty well and scored first. But when you have six turnovers it makes it tough to win any game. And twice we were inside (Hallsville's) 10-yard line and didn't score."
The Indians threw three interceptions and lost three fumbles against Hallsville, which wasted an otherwise solid offensive output.
In particular, Osage senior quarterback Dalton Depee threw for 207 yards and rushed for 139 more, with senior tight end Garrett Sutherland catching four passes for 111 yards.
Now the Indians brace for the new kid on the Tri-County block coming off its best game of the early season.
"Overall, for all sports, I think it's a good move," Johnson said of replacing Warsaw in the conference with Boonville. "They are very good in all sports and geographically it's a good fit. We've never really played them before in football, so it's nice to start a new rivalry."
The Pirates secured their first-ever Tri-County victory last week in the one-sided performance against the Pintos.
Boonville junior quarterback Nick Ferrari completed 11-of-16 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, with senior wideout Maik Brazil catching four passes for 102 yards and a TD; senior wideout Trae Williams two catches for 65 yards and a TD, and junior running back Avian Thomas two catches for 34 yards and a TD.
Thomas led the ground game with 153 yards on 16 carries and three TDs.
"We played pretty good football last week," said first-year Pirate head coach Greg Hough. "I feel each week we've played better. I feel we're on track."
In the Pirates' two losses, they were shut out while being bogged down by several turnovers. In addition to falling to Blair Oaks they dropped a 42-0 decision to Pleasant Hill in the season opener. By contrast, in its two victories Boonville rolled up a combined 92 points.
Ferrari has completed 29-of-51 passes for 453 yards, two interceptions and six touchdowns. Junior wideout Tramell Coleman has nine catches for 159 yards and two TDs while Brazil has five catches for 111 yards and Thomas six catches for 84 yards and two TDs.
Thomas has rushed for 424 yards on 66 carries and four touchdowns.
Senior outside linebacker Landon Weaver has 44 tackles to lead the Pirate defense while junior inside linebacker Josh Polk and senior end Brandon Johnson each have 24 tackles and sophomore linebacker Lane West 23. Johnson and West each have three sacks.
"They have some really athletic kids," Johnson said of Boonville. "(Thomas) is probably one of the best running backs in the conference, he's a fast kid. Their quarterback throws the ball really well and has several receivers to throw to. We have to try to keep them off-balanced.
"They have a lot of big kids up front. Defensively the have run a four-man front that allows their linebackers to run free and find an open window. And they have an athletic secondary. We definitely can't turn the ball over against them."
Depee leads the Indian offense, having completed 20-of-46 passes for 280 yards, four interceptions and two touchdowns while rushing for 334 yards on 50 carries and three TDs.
Junior running back Jack Dulle has run for 163 yards on 43 carries while senior running back Hunter Neiman has 105 yards in two games.
Sutherland has been Depee's top target with five catches for 125 yards while junior tight end Logan Havner has four catches for 63 yards.
Depee, a linebacker/safety, paces Osage in tackles with 44 while junior linebacker James Hutchcraft has 41 tackles and junior linebacker Drew Edwards has 39 and two sacks.
"Osage is a team very similar to us, they've had some self-inflicted wounds," Hough said. "They do have some talented athletes and their quarterback is the guy who pops off the film. They have a good group of linemen who play with good motors on defense."