MOKANE - This one shouldn't need any over-the-top promotion.
The third-ranked South Callaway Bulldogs - perfect to this point at 14-0 - will make their first-ever appearance in a state football championship when they battle the top-ranked and three-time defending champion Lamar Tigers (13-1) for the Class 2 title Saturday afternoon.
Kickoff is 2:15 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
South Callaway and Lamar both boast prolific offenses and stifling defenses, each tallying almost identical numbers on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs are putting up 52.7 points a game while allowing only 5.6; the Tigers average 52.8 points and give up just 5.1.
OK, if that isn't enough to sell the true football fan, here's South Callaway head coach Tim Rulo's endorsement.
"I would like to think it's going to be a competitive game," Rulo said Tuesday night after practice. "Sometimes you hear the best state championship game is in the semifinals, or in the quarterfinals.
"I would like to think that you're going to see two really good teams, maybe the two best (in Class 2). ... That's what you want."
While the Bulldogs are newcomers to the state championship, the Tigers will be seeking to become only the third team in state history to win four straight titles. Lamar began its remarkable run with a 49-19 victory over Lafayette County (Higginsville) in the 2011 state championship, followed by title wins over Blair Oaks (69-41, 2012) and Lawson (42-0, 2013).
"Playing Lamar is a plum-line game," said Rulo, who owns a 66-18 overall record in his seven seasons at South Callaway. "Yeah, you're playing for a state championship, but this is a game - just like a Blair Oaks game - where you're going to judge how well is your program, really.
"They're going to show your flaws ... and what you still have to get better at, and that's good. We're going to learn from that and I think that's going to be a great experience."
With all due respect to Lamar, the Bulldogs are not daunted by the task of tangling with the Tigers. Rulo discovered that after having a conversation with his senior players Monday.
"Their answers were spot-on," Rulo said. "(They said), "Coach, we've already watched film, we've already looked at them. Yeah, they have good players, but they make mistakes, there are things we can take advantage of.'
"That's good, hearing that. We talked about how if they have that mindset ... they need to have that permeate down to the lower levels - to the juniors, the sophomores and the freshmen."
Rulo admires the job that Tigers head coach Scott Bailey - a Lamar native - has done in transforming his program into a Class 2 power. The Tigers endured a bleak 0-10 season early in Bailey's tenure before a turnaround triggered their prolonged period of success.
"What coach Bailey has done down in southwest Missouri is phenomenal," Rulo said. "... They really have done an amazing job with their program, just developing and building that up. You've got high school kids that have really bought in to his system, bought in to the offensive and defensive philosophy.
"They hit the weight room. That's kind of the recipe that we've done here, too. That's the recipe, hopefully, for quality programs, and I'd like to think we have a quality program."
South Callaway was 0-10 and 2-8, respectively, in the two seasons before Rulo took over in 2008 and initiated his own resurrection with the Bulldogs. South Callaway went 6-5 in each of the first two years, followed by four straight 10-2 seasons, which fueled this unprecedented run that has led the Bulldogs to the Class 2 title game.
In the wake of last Saturday's 27-2 semifinal victory at Palmyra, as he ascended the stadium steps, Rulo came upon his predecessor, Bill Frazee. The two shared a hug and reflected upon the South Callaway program's climb to its current status.
"Back then, I never could have imagined - in my wildest dreams - that South Callaway would be playing for a state championship in football," Rulo said. "We knew that it was possible, but would the kids buy into the system and buy into what we were trying to do, both on and off the field?
"We're just blessed and thankful that they did, and that we're here right now."
The Bulldogs on Saturday will be attempting to bring home the second state championship in school history. The South Callaway baseball team captured the Class 2 title in 2012, while the Lady Bulldogs softball team was state runner-up in 2013.
The South Callaway girls' track and field team - which Rulo helps coach along with Frazee - also finished fourth at the Class 2 state championships last spring.
"That's where we want our (athletic) program going, that's what Lamar's done too," Rulo said. "... You want a school that's just good in everything, that people just take pride in.
""We're Lamar, or we're South Callaway, and that's how we do things.'"
Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or by email at [email protected].