Van Vanatta won a lot of games at Hazelwood Central - 56 victories in six years as head coach. He's taken over a Rock Bridge team that hasn't won much in recent years, but the Bruins are winning now.
"There's not any secret formula to it," Jefferson city coach Ted LePage said. "They are doing what they are coached to do, they are doing it hard and they are doing it fast. They've always had the ability.
"They have talent galore running around, and we've known that for years. Right now they are organizing their talent. They are not doing anything very complicated, but they do what they do very well."
The Bruins enter tonight's game against the Jays at 4-1, matching the number of wins Rock Bridge has tallied the past two years combined. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Columbia.
The last time Rock Bridge had four wins was 2014, which is also the last time the Bruins beat the Jays.
Jefferson City has three straight wins against Rock Bridge, including a dominating 61-21 victory last season at Adkins Stadium. But this doesn't appear to be the same Rock Bridge team.
For starters, the defense is allowing less than 15 points per game after giving up more than 36 per contest last season."They pursue the ball and they are not real complicated," LePage said. "They keep it simple for their players and let them play, and I think that's an advantage that they haven't had for a couple years."
Don Hammers leads the Bruins' defensive line. The 5-foot-11, 235-pound senior has five sacks.
"They don't get out of position," LePage said of the defensive line. "They play their position, they play their responsibility and make the ball bounce. Their linebackers are really what they key everything off of."
Will Norris leads the Bruins in tackles from his linebacker spot. He's also tallied 2.5 sacks.
Rock Bridge has also made plays in the secondary. Safeties Evan Ratermann and Martez Manuel have combined for five interceptions. Both are 6-2 or taller.
"Their safeties are real long, real athletic," LePage said. "They take up space just with their body. They really move well and cover ground so well."
Improving the passing game is certainly on the to-do list for the Jays.
Before totaling 153 yards through the air in last week's 38-20 loss to St. Louis University High, Jefferson City hadn't surpassed 100 passing yards this season.
Devin Roberson completed a season-high 12 passes last week, half in the fourth quarter.
"We're trying to take what we did on Friday and build on it," LePage said. "We know that the pass will help us set up the run, and we want to run the football, but if we can't pass it then people just jam us up."
That's been the case the past two weeks as the Jays averaged about 3 yards per rushing attempt against Har-Ber (Ark.) and 3.5 against SLUH.
A couple new faces could be on the field for the Jays this week.
"We switched up some personnel, we're looking at some different people in some different spots,"LePage said. "We're trying to get some speed on the field and we're trying to get our offensive line more ready to protect a little bit better."
Like the Jays, the Bruins have found the most success on the ground this season.
Nate Peat, a 2019 Missouri recruit, has racked up 891 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Big plays are his specialty, as he averages more than 6 yards per carry.
"I don't think you can stop him, you've got to just rally to him," LePage said. "He is really, really dangerous when he finds a seam and puts his foot in the ground, nobody is going to catch him on the field."
The Jays allowed less than 60 rushing yards per game in the first three weeks of the season. Opponents have run for more than 200 yards per game the last two weeks against Jefferson City.
"We saw a lack of execution I think out of our eyes," LePage said of last week's game against SLUH. "Our eyes weren't discipline last week. We're watching our defensive players, seeing what they're keying."
Jefferson City switched to a four-man front last week to try to help stop the run, but SLUH rushed for nearly 250 yards. LePage said he may or may not use four down linemen this week.
"That's all predicated with what we see," he said. "We knew SLUH was going to be a pro-style type team. A 40 front usually allows you to match up a little bit better. We're going to be able to be multiple. We will see by game time."
Jefferson City will also have to keep an eye on Rock Bridge quarterback Trevor Twehous, who spreads the ball around and can take off and run.
"He's elusive. He doesn't stay in the pocket very much," LePage said. "He moves the pocket, but he really continues to keep his eyes down field."
The recent defensive struggles have created an opportunity for others to step into starting roles on the Jays defense.
"Outside linebackers and the secondary there were some guys that we felt like there was some need for growth there," LePage said, "so we've got some competition going on at those positions."
Related media:
Jefferson City Jays Football Podcast [Rock Bridge preview, Sept. 22, 2017]