RUSSELLVILLE - On Thursday, the Russellville Indians sent out a notice to parents and students.
"We have been notified of high school students that have tested positive with COVID-19 that are participants of the football team," the notice said. "Because of this, we are not going to be traveling this week to Slater to compete. Our plan is to reevaluate over the weekend to see the status of our group. We believe that these cases are isolated, but wanted to take precautions for our students and opponents."
Now, the Indians will wait to learn who their opponent is for the hopeful beginning of the Class 1 District 5 Tournament next Friday.
Sadly, the COVID pause puts an end to the second regular season in Russellville football history with a record of 2-5.
It was the most successful year in program history after the team went winless in 2020.
"I've been really impressed with our guys, I've never had a sense of them giving up or giving in, I feel like they compete and that means a lot as the head coach," Russellville coach Tim Rulo said. "Beyond this season, I'm just excited to continue to spend time with our plays. I really believe, as good as this year has been, the following years will continue to improve and get better. There's been such a great foundation laid by the senior class and the one's who've come before."
The Indians started their season with a high point, earning the first win in Indians' history when they beat Missouri Military Academy 40-6 on Aug. 27.
Statistically, the game was highlighted by a 5-of-14 day passing for quarterback Jesse Daniel, who threw for 121 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns came on Alex Oligschlaeger's catches, totaling 81 yards, while Chris Seaver had two catches for 40 yards and one score.
Oligschlaeger added six carries for 78 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
"It's so much a breath of fresh air to win Week 1," Rulo said. " I was just so glad because we were able to get a little bit of that sugar, we were able to get a bit of that positiveness from all the hard work. That was so nice and I was so happy for them to ultimately get a little bit of the monkey off the back."
The Indians then faced their first COVID pause of the season when their Week 2 game against Tipton was canceled and Russellville was unable to find a replacement opponent.
The Indians then went into a stretch of tough opponents, playing Sweet Springs, Grandview: Hillsboro, Hogan Prep and Harrisburg in a four-week stretch. Those four left Russellville at 1-4, with the closest game being a 35-21 loss to Hogan Prep.
"The thing that impressed me so much is just the ability to be relentless," Rulo said. " Just that ability to keep going even when you don't see what it might look like. You're playing really hard teams their ability to continue to keep going through all that through some injuries, etc. It's always outstanding and kudos to those guys."
After the growth the team experienced through the middle portion of the season, the Indians put together a complete game and earned the first home win in program history when they beat Paris 34-28 for Homecoming in Week 7.
"It was an amazing experience for our kids and our community," Rulo said. "It takes a lot for a community to make the choice to start football, there's just so many things. Injury concerns, budget concerns, so many issues that people have sometimes and starting football can be really hard for a community to make that step. To see the combination of all that hard work with a win is just outstanding and it gives me goosebumps just to thing about it.
"Those are amazing memories the kids will never forget and is part of the history of Russellville football. Right now, it's not a huge history, but Lord willing, years, decades from now those guys can claim that they were a part of something."
It was the best offensive day of the season for the Indians, totaling 346 yards, with 254 coming on the ground.
Josiah Herman led the way with 31 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns, while Daniel completed four passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, both to Alex Oligschlaeger who totaled three catches for 83 yards.
A group of seven seniors, Blake Burling, Bryce Hale, Cameron Larimore, Kaden Shannon, Landen Waggoner, Dustin Wells and Simon Hartman led the way for the Indians through the season, largely on the offensive and defensive lines.
"What a tribute to our seven seniors. When you're a part of something from the beginning, you can really have an understanding of what it looks like to be successful," Rulo said. "You love to win as many games as possible, but going into the season they had never won a game. Just their willingness to come out and play football when you're not sure what the results are going to be with a new head coach, what a tribute to those guys. I'm just so proud of them and their willingness to grab on and lead this program."
Along those seniors, six juniors - Daniel, Herman, Alex Oligschlaeger, Luke Oligschlaeger, Seaver and Brennen Stinson - compiled most of the team's stats.
Daniel completed 36-of-90 passes on the season for 605 yards and nine touchdowns. Most of those touchdowns went to Alex Oligschlaeger, who caught 14 passes for 323 yards and eight touchdowns, while rushing for two more scores.
Herman led the team in carries with 107 for 447 yards and two touchdowns, while Seaver totaled 35 carries for 133 yards before missing the final three games of the year due to injury.
"I think it's exciting that class meshed really well with our seniors, I think that is one really important thing," Rulo said. " We have a lot of our seniors who are more lineman and some of the juniors are the non linemen, just seeing those guys work together and depend on one another has been really great."
Rulo said after his first year with the program he is proud to have helped lead a team early in its history.
"What an honor it is to be a part of a program when it's in its infancy," Rulo said. "It's a really unique experience, one that I've never been a part of this close to the inception of a program. It's been really cool. It's been an honor and really a growing experience for all of us."