School of the Osage Indians

A torrential downpour, gusting winds and a stingy Osage team couldn’t prevent Versailles from winning its first district title since 2002. The fact that the Tigers’ star player stepped up when it matter most didn‘t hurt, either.

With 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, quarterback Jesse Loganbill hit fullback Cody Bowers for a 22-yard touchdown pass on a playaction bootleg. It proved to be the decisive margin as Versailles won 14-7.

“There were two guys closing in on me and I just kinda lower my shoulders and next thing I knew, I had scored,” Bowers said.

The Tigers finish first in the Class 3, District 9 pool and will host either Mountain Grove or Ava on Wednesday. Osage will have to travel to Logan-Rogersville, a team that’s 8-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 3.
 

The Osage Indians clinched a playoff spot with a win over Eldon and Versailles win over California on Friday.

The Mustangs, coming off a 32-14 win over the Pintos, got on top of Eldon early. They were up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.

After that, it was all academic, as the Indians rolled to a 30-point win.

Osage will travel to Versailles next week to fight for home-field advantage in the first round of playoffs.

A back-and-forth first half led to a 14-14 tie at intermission, but the second half was all Osage on Friday as the rolled to a 32-14 win.

At one point in the first quarter, the teams traded touchdowns on three consecutive plays. Osage scored on a 38-yard run by Cody Maher, then California scored on a 64-yard pass to Mitchell Cox, and on the very next play from scrimmage, Osage scored on a 72-yard Spencer Webb run. The three scores went on the board in a matter of 34 seconds of game time.

But the second half belonged to the Indians, who forced four turnovers and scored three touchdowns to seal the victory.

Webb led the Indians with 194 yards rushing and a touchdown.

The Indians are now 3-5 on the season and 1-0 in the district. They'll travel to Eldon next week, which is 0-1 in the district.

A few timely touchdowns and a suffocating defense was the recipe for an Osage win on Friday at home against St. Pius, 21-10.

Apart from one long touchdown pass, the Indians gave the Warriors nothing all night. The St. Pius rushing attack managed a meager 10 yards for the game.

On offense, Cody Brown threw 5 interceptions, but managed to lead the Indians on three scoring drives – enough to give Osage the win.

Spencer Webb led the team with 79 yards rushing and one touchdown. Cody Maher had one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown for the Indians.

The Indians scored early, and they scored often on Friday as they finally got in the win column in commanding style.

The Indians put up 14 points in the first quarter, and added a third touchdown in the second to take a 21-0 halftime lead.

When it was all said and done, the Indians held a 37-2 lead, with the two-point safety coming on a punt when the snap rolled out of the endzone.

Osage, now 1-3 on the season, will go on the road to take on St. Francis Borgia next week.

The Falcons kept their conference winning streak alive on Friday, though the Osage Indians put up a fight.

The Indians led 13-12 in the first half before a kick return touchdown made it 18-13 Blair Oaks.

The Falcons took over in the second half, and a late touchdown pass cut the lead to the final, 34-26.

Osage is now 0-3 on the season. They'll play at home next week against St. James for homecoming.

It was wet and muddy in Osage's opener. See for yourself how the teams played in the slop.

The Osage Indians didn't trail in the entire game until there was less than a minute to play.

With 35.2 seconds to go in the game, Moberly scored a touchdown from 2 yards out to take an 18-13 lead. And that's the way it would end.

With the field in marsh-like conditions after a day-long rain, the teams struggled to hang on to the ball early, with each turning it over on their first possession.

Osage would capitalize first, when Cody Brown hit Cody Maher for a 6-yard touchdown, one play after Brown rushed for 44 yards.

Moberly answered with a touchdown of their own, but missed the extra point, making it 7-6 at the half.

Osage answered in the second half with another touchdown, but missed the point after to lead 13-6. On the ensuing kickoff, Moberly returned the kick about 80 yards for a touchdown.

They went for two on a fake kick and failed, leaving the Indians with a narrow 13-12 lead. It would stay that way until Moberly's late score.

The Indians are now 0-2 on the season with a home game against Blair Oaks on Friday.

In 1959, Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, the first nuclear-powered U.S. merchant ship was launched and the Wiffel Ball was introduced.
The same year, four lake area high school football programs were born.
In week 1, on Sept.18, Eldon defeated School of the Osage 41-7. The next week, they played their first home game at Allee Field against Camdenton and won 18-0.
Fast forward 50 years and the Eldon Mustangs, coming off a winless season, are hoping they can find some of that early magic.
“We talk about it all the time,” Eldon head coach Shannon Jolley said. “History is still strong here. It’s important to wear the maroon and gold.”
Jolley said a recent conversation at Henley’s Jewelers in Eldon gave him another example of why history is so important to the town.
“There are alumni from back then who are still in town,” he said. “There were a couple of undefeated teams back then. It’s exciting to revisit that history.”
Though plans aren’t finalized, Eldon intends to recognize the 50th anniversary the week of homecoming.
The team that first lost to Eldon 50 years ago, the Osage Indians, don’t have quite so far to go. Their history has also seen its ups and downs, but recent history has produced five consecutive district championships.
They’re focus is now to take that recent success and turn it into playoff success, after losing in the first round last season.
Across the lake in Versailles, history is also part of the conversation on a regular basis.
“We talk about it quite a lot,” head coach Glen Lemmon said. “We talk about history and tradition and the early days of the program.”
Versailles will also be recognizing the first team in the school’s history before the first home game of the season. They’ll have members of the original team, along with players from the past 50 years, in attendance to be recognized.
Down south, in Camdenton, they talk about history. In fact, it’s hard to avoid.
In the past 35 years, the Lakers have won 311 of their approximately 350 games. When Bob Shore came along, the school had only played football for 15 years. Now, they have a history of being a powerhouse in the state.
“You have to use your tradition to your advantage,” Shore said. “It can help, or it can hurt.”
While the rich history gets people excited about the program, it can also cause other teams to put a target on your back, Shore said.
But more than anything, it helps.
“Success breeds success,” Shore said.
And Camdenton football players tend to sometimes breed Camdenton football players.
Because he’s been at Camdenton so long, Shore is now coaching the boys of some of his former players.
Not all of the schools can say they hold a handful of state football titles, but all four have a rich history that dates back to the Eisenhower administration.
“We want to build on our history,” Jolley said. “We’re still a part of that.”