RUSSELLVILLE - The Russellville Indians are looking to rebound on Senior Night.
After making the two-hour trip for their Saturday matchup with Grandview: Hillsboro last week, it's Russellville's turn to host a long-traveling opponent when it plays Hogan Prep (2-1) out of Kansas City at 7 p.m. today.
Hogan Prep opted out of its game against Van Horn last week out of precaution.
This week, Russellville (1-2) will celebrate its seven seniors - Blake Burling, Bryce Hale, Cameron Larimore, Kaden Shannon, Landen Waggoner, Dustin Wells and Simon Hartman.
Those seniors will get their shine against a Rams team coming off its first loss of the season, 33-8 against Summit Christian Academy.
"It's so hard when you have a new coach who comes in your senior year," Russellville coach Tim Rulo said. "But those guys have worked extremely hard, they've done a phenomenal job and I'm just so proud of them, you know, proud of them and all of their hard work. It's been an honor for me to coach them and, you know, I want to continue to make great memories of this season with them."
Along with adding memories for the seniors, the Indians are looking to build on the bright spots Rulo found out of the team's 62-0 loss to the Eagles last week.
"I thought our offensive line played well, we showed a lot of bright spots at times," Rulo said about what he is taking away from Week 4. "Offensively, penalties really got to us and where more of an Achilles' heel than I realized, you know, they really were drive stoppers. That really put kind of a damper on things, that and turnovers in general. Just basic things you just can't do anytime, but especially when you're playing a quality opponent."
That improved offensive line play led to 135 yards on the ground from the Indians team, with 149 coming from its three main backs, Josiah Herman, Chris Seaver and Alex Oligschlaeger.
Herman has led the team with 32 carries through three games to total a team-high 173 yards on the ground, while Seaver is second on the team with 22 carries for 95 yards and Oligschlaeger is third in totes with 18 carries for 126 yards.
Oligschlaeger has had the best single-game performance both on the ground and through the air with 78 yards on six carries, including a touchdown, in Week 1 to complement three catches for 81 yards and three touchdowns.
"Those three guys are definitely kind of a three-headed monster when it comes to the running game," Rulo said. "It's really just a matter of letting those guys get their touches and be athletic as best they can. Getting them touches on the plays that work best for them."
The ground game has been the key to Russellville's offense this season, while the passing attack has struggled the past two weeks.
In Week 1, quarterback Jesse Daniel completed five attempts for 121 yards and four touchdowns. He has completed seven attempts for 142 yards and no touchdowns since.
The Indians' offensive attack will look to remain on schedule against a Hogan Prep defense that did an excellent job slowing opponents in its first two games, holding Lexington to 14 points and Wyandotte (Kan.) to 7.
The Rams defense struggled in Week 3 when it faced Summit Christian, which dropped out of the Class 3 rankings this week, but is still receiving votes. Hogan Prep allowed 417 total yards to the Eagles, including 304 on the ground.
Where the Rams defense didn't struggle was forcing turnovers, its strong defensive line forced two fumbles against Summit Christian and three against Wyandotte.
"Their D-line is big and good," Rulo said. "Especially their defensive ends, they do a great job of loading everything up because they've got the speed to run things down on the outside."
The Rams' offensive and defensive lines are anchored by 6-foot-4 340-pound sophomore tackle Matthieu Laffinette, as well as 5-10 305-pound inside lineman Diante Mitchell.
The pair, as well as the rest of the Hogan Prep defensive linemen, will look to get through a Russellville offensive line that saw improvement last week in run blocking, helping the Indians' main trio nearly double their performance from Week 3, but that struggled dropping into pass protection, allowing four sacks and hurries nearly every time Daniel dropped back.
On defense, the Indians will have to contain playmakers that helped the Rams build 144 yards rushing last week.
Junior running back Steven Clark looks to get most of the handoffs, Rulo said, while Dyimond Walker will take a lot of the looks in the passing game.
"We're just gonna have to get after the football and use the speed that we have to hopefully be able to play fast and do our best to contain them," Rulo said.
Both freshamn Xzavien Simmons and freshman Terrell Irvin Jr. have taken snaps at quarterback this season for the Rams.
"(Irvin) is more of a running threat, (Simmons) is a little more of the passing threat," Rulo said.
Rulo said one of the keys defensively for the Indians will be to force more turnovers, they have forced only one this season. He said that has been one of the main focuses during practice this week.
"Right now we're just really trying to talk to our guys about having a kind of relentless spirit to get after the ball," Rulo said. " It's hard to be successful if you've only created one takeaway in three games. Hopefully we'll see some fruit of that come Friday."