KINGDOM CITY - The North Callaway Thunderbirds haven't lost in almost three months, the Clark County Indians in nearly two.
All of that will change this weekend. One team will suffer a setback that will signal a disappointing end to its season, while the other will continue a spirited pursuit of a state championship.
State-ranked North Callaway (11-1) will make a long journey to the extreme northeast corner of the state Saturday for a clash with Clark County (8-4) in the Class 2 quarterfinals. Kickoff is 1 p.m.
The seventh-ranked Thunderbirds have built an impressive 11-game winning streak after starting the season with a 15-12 home loss to Southern Boone on Aug. 18. North Callaway advanced by capturing the District 5 title with a 38-20 victory over South Callaway on Nov. 3 in Kingdom City.
The Thunderbirds are appearing in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011, a 63-21 loss to Osage in a Class 3 matchup.
"Yeah, it's pretty special - when you start out the season, obviously it's a goal of yours to take a team as far as you can, improve every week and hopefully compete for championships," North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal said Tuesday afternoon. " It's a tribute to the young men and their work ethic, and the amount of time they've spent this year to get better.
"It's exciting to win a district championship, it's exciting to be competing at this time of year. I think our kids are ready to go. They're excited about it, too."
The Indians have battled their way back from a 1-4 start in winning seven in a row to reach this point. As the fourth seed in District 6, Clark County knocked off top-seeded Macon 28-18 in the semifinals and then prevailed at No. 2 seed Palmyra 26-16 in the Nov. 3 title game.
The Indians' last trip to the Class 2 quarterfinals also came in 2012, a 34-3 loss to Blair Oaks. Clark County won a state championship in 2008 and also made the quarterfinals in 2009.
"Clark County, I believe - looking at their roster - is fairly young," O'Neal said. "They've got a lot of younger kids that play, so that could account for some of those struggles early on in the year and then they figured some things out.
"They've definitely got it rolling right now."
The respective district titles for North Callaway and Clark County were both tales of takeaways. The Thunderbirds forced seven South Callaway turnovers, converting three into points and also getting a defensive score on senior outside linebacker Adam Reno's 99-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
The Indians, meanwhile, coerced Palmyra into committing five turnovers.
"That's a big part of it - usually when you win the turnover battle, you win the game," O'Neal said. "We have stressed all year not turning the ball over and getting takeaways when we can on the defensive side."
Clark County is putting up 30.1 points per game out of its zone-read offense. Quarterback London Brunk - a 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior - was 9-of-15 passing for 215 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown, against Palmyra.
Brunk also scored on a 1-yard run and finished with just 32 yards on 15 carries.
"(Brunk) would rather run the ball and he's a good runner - a physical kid, a tough kid, runs the zone read very well," O'Neal said. "He's not as good at throwing the ball, has a strong arm, likes to throw the deep ball.
"That's why they had those yards that they had, he completed some deep passes."
Sophomore Caleb Lapsley, listed as a wide receiver on the Indians' roster on MaxPreps.com, rushed for 123 yards in 18 attempts and had a 49-yard touchdown run in the win over Palmyra.
Senior wide receiver Zeb Riney topped Clark County with four catches for 109 yards. Riney also contributed 10 yards on two carries, with most of that output coming on a 7-yard touchdown run.
Junior wide receiver Logan Claiborne had two receptions for 45 yards, while fellow junior wide receiver Dalton Albert's lone catch came on Brunk's 45-yard touchdown throw.
"They're just hard-nosed runners, they're big up front on the line," O'Neal said. "They do a very good job with their down blocks, their blocking schemes are very sound and they hit the hole fast and hard."
O'Neal stressed that the first level of North Callaway's defense will face a critical test against the Indians' zone read.
"Our defensive line is going to be key," O'Neal said. "Our big guys in the middle can't get pushed, can't get down-blocked, have to maintain their ground so that they don't open up those gaps.
"Then our ends have to be sound, read their keys and get to the right spots."
O'Neal is hoping junior inside linebacker Jordan Delashmutt - the "emotional leader" of the defensive unit - will be able to play in some capacity Saturday. Delashmutt's left foot is in a walking boot after he injured it against South Callaway and was held out of practice this week.
O'Neal explained that Delashmutt would be evaluated today and then a decision would be made about his status. Delashmutt leads the Thunderbirds with 129 tackles, 9.5 sacks and six fumble recoveries.
As a complement to Reno in North Callaway's backfield, Delashmutt has also rushed for 702 yards (8.4 average) and 13 touchdowns.
"Jordan's a tough kid," O'Neal said. "We had the conversation about making sure his health is number one (priority), and that is the biggest thing.
"But he said, 'Coach, it's been a special year, we're to this spot and I still want to be a part of it.' He's going to be out there if he can do it at all."
The Thunderbirds will confront a Clark County defense that employs the same 4-2-5 scheme as North Callaway. The Indians are allowing 17.7 points per game, but only 7.7 during their winning streak.
'They've got some big guys on the interior and they've got some solid linebackers," O'Neal said. "They're probably one of the best defenses (the Thunderbirds have faced).
"South Callaway is a solid defense - Clark County is much the same, discipline-wise, they're just a little bit bigger than South Callaway was up front. They're a gap-oriented team and they don't make many mistakes."
North Callaway will continue to grind with a running game that features the punishing Reno, who gained 229 yards and scored two touchdowns last week. Reno also set the school single-season record with 2,003 yards (9.5 per carry) and raised his touchdown total to 31.
The Thunderbirds will dare the Indians to stack the line of scrimmage and try to curb a rushing attack that is averaging 270.5 yards per game.
"When you've got to defend that run and it's getting three and four yards a pop, five yards a pop, and you're not stopping it and it's moving down the field, that's demoralizing mentally," O'Neal said. "That's what we want to be - we want to be physical up front, we want to get that done.
"We know teams are going to load the box on us, but we still want to do our best to move the ball because that's just going to wear them down - physically, mentally, all of it. It's just an attitude that we want to set."
North Callaway has also done a nice job of mixing in its passing game in the right moments to surprise opposing defenses. Sophomore quarterback Tully Thomsen threw for just 82 yards but connected for three touchdowns - two coming on fourth down - in the win over South Callaway.
Thomsen has completed 55-of-88 passes (63 percent) on the season for 1,151 yards, 19 scores and only four interceptions.
"That young man has nothing but my utmost respect and I have nothing but confidence in him - that he's going to execute when we need it executed," O'Neal said. "He understands what we're doing offensively, he understands the game plan.
"He knows he's not going to get to throw it that much, but when he does, he better execute it. I think he's done a great job."
Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or on Twitter @FultonSunSports.