KINGDOM CITY, Mo. - The state-ranked North Callaway Thunderbirds don't want to waste what they earned.
Forged by a run of eight straight victories, North Callaway (8-1) possesses the top seed in Class 2 District 5 and will look to protect that status when it hosts No. 8 seed Montgomery County (4-5) in a first-round matchup tonight. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
The contest will also be a rematch of last week's regular-season finale in the same locale. The Thunderbirds - ranked No. 7 in Class 2 in this week's Missouri Media Rankings - topped off an undefeated run to the Eastern Missouri Conference title with a 55-21 victory against the Wildcats.
"The biggest thing - as a coach - that you worry about is that you plateau, that you get to that maximum spot and you don't get any better," North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal said. "Those are the things that you worry about, and you want to make sure you can continue to improve.
"We've worked hard to get ourself into this position that we're in. Now, we can't be satisfied, we can't be complacent with that. We have to make sure that it wasn't all for naught."
O'Neal isn't exactly enthusiastic about squaring off against Montgomery County for the second time in eight days."It's tough - the prep isn't as hard because we've seen it," O'Neal said. "Trying to think about what they're going to do, to change up what they're going to try and fix, that's something that is challenging."
The Thunderbirds' offense will be bolstered tonight by the expected return of two critical components - senior running back Adam Reno and sophomore quarterback Tully Thomsen. Reno missed last week's game after suffering a mild concussion in practice the day before, while Thomsen had a lower back injury flare up Friday night and sat out the second half.
As of Tuesday, O'Neal said Reno was in the third stage of the concussion protocol and had been symptom-free since last Friday night. O'Neal also noted Thomsen had been working with a trainer on ways to strengthen his core.
"Those two guys are pretty important pieces to what we want to do," O'Neal said. "Their health is a concern, but I think they're ready to go. They'll be good."
North Callaway's running game didn't experience any decline last week in Reno's absence. Junior running back Jordan Delashmutt delivered by gaining a career-high 289 yards on 20 carries and scored five touchdowns as the Thunderbirds piled up 424 yards on the ground.
Sophomore running back Bradley Berry also supplied 63 yards rushing in 11 attempts for North Callaway and had a pair of 2-point conversion runs. Fellow sophomore running back Mason Wortmann provided a 5-yard touchdown run, a 2-point conversion run and contributed 31 yards on seven carries.
Senior wide receiver Austin Edwards finished with just 29 yards in two attempts, but that included a 27-yard touchdown run. Sophomore backup quarterback Jadon Henry also had a 2-yard touchdown run.
"All of those guys do a phenomenal job, and they work hard in practice," O'Neal said. "I think that is a little bit of a tribute to Adam Reno as well. Adam works very hard in practice - those guys that are in his position group know that if they're going to have any (playing) time at all on Friday night, they've got to work just as hard.
"I think they have in practice, and I think it showed Friday night when they did get their opportunities."
O'Neal also praised an offensive line that helped the Thunderbirds average a hearty 9.2 yards on 46 total carries.
"Those five guys Friday night really got it," O'Neal said. "Watching us block some of our plays, they understand what we want to do. They did a great job, had a great week of preparation."
With Reno back in the lineup and complemented by a reliable supporting cast, Montgomery County's defense should brace itself again for a heavy dose of North Callaway's running attack.
"I say it every week - we want to control the line of scrimmage, we want to run the football," O'Neal said. "We're not going to change what we're doing there."
O'Neal expressed his concern with the 329 yards the Thunderbirds' defense surrendered to the Wildcats last week. Montgomery County senior quarterback Aubrey Nelson ran for a 27-yard score and also had touchdown passes of 35 and 21 yards.
Nelson rushed for 90 yards on 13 carries and was 19-of-25 passing for 194 yards.
O'Neal pointed out Reno returning to his outside linebacker position would help steady North Callaway on the defensive side.
"Honestly, I think a lot of that (pass-defense problems) had to do with Adam not being in there," O'Neal said. "The short game, the bubbles (screens), the quicks that they threw, the little hitches, Adam does a great job of defending those types of things.
"Adam being back this week, I think will shore up some things defensively."
In other District 5 first-round games tonight, No. 2 seed South Callaway - ranked 10th in Class 2 - hosts No. 7 Principia, No. 3 seed Brentwood is at home against No. 6 Father Tolton, and No. 4 seed Hermann hosts No. 5 Hallsville.
Related media:
North Callaway Thunderbirds Football Podcast [Montgomery County preview, Oct. 20, 2017]