RUSSELLVILLE, Mo. -- Going into the Russellville Indians' Week 5 matchup, coach Tim Rulo had the team focusing on creating takeaways.
In its first three games, the team had only one, and none in its previous two matchups.
Friday night, the Indians grabbed three interceptions, two fumbles and recovered an onside kick.
"The guys were flying around and doing great things," Rulo said. "We've just got to keep getting better.
"Now it's just being consistent, doing that all the time and through all four quarters."
The Indians' defenders flying around didn't only create turnovers, but caused havoc in the Hogan Prep Rams' backfield during the Rams' 35-21 win in Russellville.
Russellville worked its way into the Rams' backfield for four tackles for loss and a sack.
On the Indians' first defensive snap, Landen Waggoner got into the backfield for a tackle for loss, on the Rams' next drive, Blake Burling recorded a sack, nearly a fumble recovery, on a bobbled snap.
Burlings' sack helped keep the Rams off the board after they had moved into Indians' territory late in the first quarter.
Russellville put a quick stop to the Rams' next drive when Burling and Chris Seaver each recorded tackles for loss before Alex Oligschlaeger recovered a fumble on a halfback dive, where multiple Indian defenders where able to spin the Rams' running back into losing the ball.
The Rams were able to break through the Indians' defense for a touchdown on the team's next drive, but its final two ended on Alex Oligschlaeger interceptions, sending the Indians into halftime losing by 6.
"The message to the guys (at halftime) was that we had to keep going," Rulo said. "In football, even the last play doesn't matter any more, the next play is what matters. We came out firing, we made some adjustments, our coaches did a great job coaching guys up. There's so much growth here and so much potential."
It was the best the Indians' defense had played since Week 1 after allowing five scoring drives on seven attempts from Sweet Springs' starters in Week 3 and 62 total points to Grandview: Hillsboro in Week 4.
After ending three of the Rams' final four drives in the first half on turnovers, the Indians continued to steal possessions when they opened the second half with an onside kick that Drake Armes dove on when the kick found an opening in the Rams' kick return formation.
"Coach Ferri and coach Sconce did a great job seeing that was there and putting in the right call," Rulo said of the onside attempt. "It was executed well by (kicker) Simon (Hartman) and Payton (Behrens) and Drake Armes did a great job, that was awesome."
The momentum stayed with the Indians when Burling ended the Rams' next drive with an interception, before Hogan Prep took the momentum back with a 60-yard score on their next attempt.
The defensive improvement wasn't the only growth from the Indians.
After scoring only six points combined in its previous two games, Russellville connected for 21, with two touchdowns through the air.
The Indians' run game had led the way for the offense in the previous two weeks, only collecting 143 passing yards combined on 7-for-22 passing with five interceptions.
Against the Rams, quarterback Jesse Daniel completed 9 of 20 attempts for 137 yards and two touchdowns, both to Alex Oligschlaeger. Daniel did have an interception on the team's opening drive, but it was batted into the air at the line of scrimmage, the third consecutive week the Indians have had a pass batted at the line turn into an interception.
"I thought Jesse made some huge strides in just understanding what he needed to do," Rulo said. "Not to try to force passes, to take what the defense was giving him. I thought he did a great job. His maturation as a quarterback, I was really impressed."
Daniel was key on the team's other touchdown as well, taking a QB dive in from the 1 for his first rushing score of the year.
Rulo said the Indians' Week 5 performance was the best he has seen his team play in his first year leading the Indians. Russellville will look to continue its game-to-game growth when it faces the undefeated Harrisburg Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Friday, then moves to its final trio of games to end the season against Paris, Sherwood and Slater, which have combined for only one win through Week 5.
"I think the biggest thing to take away is we can play good football, we can play against athletic teams," Rulo said. "We've gotten a lot better, now we just need to keep improving. That's the whole purpose of this program, this season, we just want to keep getting better. In my mind, holistically, this is the best game we've played."