MOKANE, Mo. - As far as South Callaway head coach Zack Hess is concerned, the intensity of postseason football is here.
Hess took a moment for a bit of levity after a practice this week when addressing the gravity the season is taking on, and it will soon be apparent in the facial features of his coaching staff.
"There's no easy games anymore," Hess said. "It's pretty much playoff time, I told the coaches to go ahead and grow out their playoff beards.
"We've got to be ready every game because they're going to get tougher as we go. It's time to roll. Some of the coaches already have beards, so I don't know what they're going to do. Grow out their hair, I guess. We try to keep it as light as possible."
The Bulldogs will be all business when they wrap up the regular season tonight with their Homecoming game against Eastern Missouri Conference foe Bowling Green. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
South Callaway is 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the EMO after Class 1-ranked Mark Twain clinched the conference title with a hard-fought 18-7 victory against the Bulldogs last week in Mokane. The Bulldogs sit in third place in the Class 2 District 7 standings with 39.5 points, a little more than a point in front of fourth-place Hallsville (4-4, 38.38).
The top four teams get to stay home for at least the first week of district play.
Hess and his assistants have conveyed to their players they can't afford to relax tonight against the Bobcats (5-3, 4-2 EMO), who breezed to a 51-28 conference home victory last week against Montgomery County.
"We can't overlook anybody," Hess said. "We have to play one week, one game at a time, and try to keep getting better. That's all that we can do.
"We have to do what we can control and we can't worry about anything else, where we land in the seedings. We just have to play as hard as we can and take care of business, and then we'll see where we play."
South Callaway's defense faced one of the best running backs in the state last week in Mark Twain's Tyler Elledge, who rushed for 309 yards and scored all three of the Tigers' touchdowns. The Bulldogs will draw another tough assignment tonight against Bowling Green senior Kaeden Jenkins (6-foot-1, 190 pounds), who drew some comparisons to Elledge from Hess.
Jenkins has been responsible for the majority of the Bobcats' run production this season, gaining 1,241 yards (7.9 average) and scoring 18 touchdowns. He is averaging 155.1 yards per game.
"He's fast, he's shifty, he's physical," Hess said. "... He sees the holes and he hits them really hard. He doesn't have the same breakaway speed as Elledge, but he's a similar type of running back. He's maybe more physical, so he's going to be a handful."
Hess explained Elledge gave the South Callaway defense particular problems last week when he broke back against the grain, and that the Bulldogs will have to guard against that same skill with Jenkins tonight.
"I've noticed that with this kid, he cuts it back really well, even all the way across the field if that's where he has open space," Hess said. "We've got to be able to corral him and tackle him."
South Callaway's offense will aim to be more efficient after wasting numerous scoring chances last week. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs three times inside Mark Twain's 40-yard line in the first half, including twice inside the 20.
South Callaway's lone score came on senior quarterback Ethan Livengood's 10-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Cameron Richardson with 24 seconds left in the first half. The Bulldogs generated 204 yards of total offense, including 156 rushing, but one of their two turnovers set up a Mark Twain score in the second half.
The Bulldogs will counter a Bowling Green 4-4 defensive scheme that is surrendering 34 points per game.
"I think the message this week is that we have to get that extra yard - we have to finish those third-down conversions or the red-zone conversions," Hess said. "The focus is going to stay the same. We'll try and get first downs, try to move the ball, try to work the clock and ultimately we have to punch it in the end zone, though."
South Callaway hosts Bowling Green - Updates on Twitter: @FultonSunSports. Listen live online: kfalthebig900.com
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