KINGDOM CITY - If Wright City's defense takes the risk, North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal likes the Thunderbirds' chances for reward.
North Callaway could be paying particular attention to the passing phase of its offense today when the Thunderbirds visit the Wildcats for an Eastern Missouri Conference encounter scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff. North Callaway - winners of three of its last four - is 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the EMO after cruising past Clopton/Elsberry 36-8 at home last week.
Senior quarterback Cole Branson had a hand in all five of the Thunderbirds' scores, throwing for three touchdowns and also running for a pair of scores. North Callaway amassed 412 yards of total offense, including 275 rushing as Branson broke loose for a game-high 197 yards on 13 carries.
O'Neal fully expects Wright City's 3-3 stack defense to concentrate on curbing the Thunderbirds on the ground, particularly Branson. That might free up opportunities for North Callaway to attack through the air.
"(The Wildcats) vary between man(-to-man) and cover-3 (schemes in the secondary), so I think we have some options there," O'Neal said Tuesday afternoon. "Obviously, they're probably going to try to shut down our running game and Cole Branson quite a bit.
"... We'll maybe throw the ball a little more this week, because I think we can gain some ground there."
Branson finished 15-of-24 passing last week for the three scores and no interceptions. On the season, he has just a 45-percent completion rate (53-of-119) for 759 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
O'Neal emphasized that Branson needs to tighten up his accuracy.
"We want to improve there; our completion percentage hasn't been where I want it to be this year," O'Neal said. "Now (last) Friday night it was better and I think we need to up that even more, and that's going to be in the execution.
"I think he's reading defenses better and he's making those decisions better. We need to continue to improve on that."
Wright City - coached by North Callaway graduate Matt Brooks - is struggling at 1-6 on the season and 1-4 in the EMO coming into tonight's game. The Wildcats have suffered four straight conference losses, the latest a 24-18 setback at Van-Far last week.
Quarterback Kyle Tuepker guides Wright City's veer option out of a pistol formation. Junior Derenzo Blanks will either line up behind Tuepker at tailback or shift out to a slot receiver.
O'Neal noted the Thunderbirds benefit from the fact defensive coordinator Reid Randolph is well-versed in the elements of the veer. Randolph ran the offense as a high school quarterback at Carrollton.
"He knows a lot about (the veer), so he's worked hard to defend it," O'Neal said. "That's something that's been a goal of his, to make sure that we can shut it down because we see it so much throughout the year.
"I think it's been a bonus that he knows a lot about the veer and he's done a good job of defending it."
O'Neal also wants to see the North Callaway defense pump up its totals in the takeaway category. The Thunderbirds have only forced five turnovers on the season.
"We're playing with a little more heart, defensively," O'Neal said. "We want to take that up to the next level and start getting those turnovers, and start scoring on defense ... or setting up scores by creating turnovers.
"That's something we're going to push them to do this week and hopefully it'll pay off on Friday."
O'Neal stressed that his squad can't relax after getting back on track with last week's victory.
"We can't become complacent, especially with a team not quite to the caliber that we've been playing," O'Neal said. "... We want to focus on what we want to execute defensively and what we want to execute offensively, and make sure that we get as close to perfection as we can.
"I tell the kids all the time that we can strive for perfection, we're not going to reach it, but in our pursuit of perfection we can reach excellence. That's what we work for."
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