MOKANE - Whatever issues that plagued South Callaway's run defense in its first outing of the season, there's an urgency for the Bulldogs to get a quick handle on them.
South Callaway will seek to rebound from a 41-20 opening loss at home to Lafayette County when the Bulldogs travel to Hermann tonight for a non-conference matchup with the Bearcats. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
South Callaway was literally "gashed" by Lafayette County as the Huskers accumulated 282 yards rushing that produced four touchdowns. Mason Gash - a 6-foot, 190-pound junior running back - was responsible for a game-high 163 yards rushing and scored on runs of 2, 17 and 75 yards.
Senior quarterback Tanner Sears accounted for Lafayette County's other touchdown run when he scrambled 36 yards for a score.
"Our run defense, it needs some work," Bulldogs coach Zack Hess - who also serves as defensive coordinator - said. "I think our fits were a little off, I think we overran a lot of plays, we lost leverage on a lot of plays.
"Again, it's all teachable and fixable. We're going to try to work very hard to do that."
South Callaway will need some snappy solutions as it prepares for Hermann's flexbone offense that broke out for 382 yards rushing in the Bearcats' 28-12 win at Montgomery County in last week's opener.
The Bulldogs will confront a running back with a build similar to Gash. Trent Gleeson - a 5-11, 198-pound junior - sparked Hermann with 174 yards rushing on 26 carries against Montgomery County.
"He's big, he's a bowling ball," Hess said. "He hits the line of scrimmage really fast and he runs really hard. Just by the design of the play and how fast it works, it looks like they can get three or four yards just automatically.
"That's a huge challenge for us, trying to slow him down."
South Callaway, though, can't afford to concentrate exclusively on restricting Gleeson. Junior quarterback Chase McKague also gained 117 yards in 21 attempts last week.
"They're a great tandem," Hess said of Gleeson and McKague. "I think part of their offense is designed to hand 36 (Gleeson) the ball a few times, and then all of a sudden No. 2 (McKague) is going to keep it and he's going to run off-tackle, or whatever.
"That's going to be another added challenge, trying to stop him."
Hess stressed it will be critical for the Bulldogs to make yardage difficult to come by at the point of attack for the Bearcats tonight.
"We have to do a better job with our run fits and we have to be physical at the line of scrimmage - that's going to be big," Hess said. "We can't get pushed back three or four yards and allow them to get those easy yards.
"We have to make them earn it. If we tackle a little bit better, we have better leverage, I think that's going to go a long way."
After wasting a prime scoring chance inside Lafayette County's 5-yard line at the end of the first half, Hess was encouraged by the South Callaway offense's second-half showing. Leeper was 10-of-18 passing overall for 166 yards and an interception, but completed 7-of-8 passes in the second half for 108 yards and two touchdowns to senior wide receiver Dylan Paschang.
Senior running back Bradyn Belcher also had a 1-yard touchdown run as the Bulldogs amassed 215 yards rushing. Leeper supplied 105 yards in 14 attempts, followed by Belcher with 71 yards on 16 carries.
"The initial reaction was that in the first half it took them a while just to get going, just to get their feet wet and play together a little bit," Hess said. "I was really impressed with our young guys up front, especially in their pass protection.
"They did a pretty good job and gave Peyton some time to throw the ball. I think that paid dividends there in the second half when you saw Peyton kind of feel more comfortable and connect with Dylan in the pass game, and got some big ones."
On the defensive side, Hess said Gleeson and sophomore Holden Ash fuel Hermann's 3-5 scheme at their linebacker positions.
"They're very aggressive, they like to blitz a lot," Hess said. "They're big up front with their D-linemen, and then their linebackers are big and fast."
South Callaway gave the ball away three times last week, including a fumble with about 3 minutes left in the game that resulted in a 76-yard return for a touchdown as Lafayette County pulled away.
"We can't shoot ourselves in the foot with turnovers, we have to capitalize when we're in the red zone," Hess said. "Little things like that are going to go a long way.