COUNCIL GROVE – The last three meetings between Osage City and Council Grove have been about as drama-filled as anyone could ask for, all three contests decided in the final minute of the game.
 
With both teams entering Friday’s game undefeated and ranked in Class 2A – Osage City No. 3 and Council Grove No. 5 – there was no reason to expect anything different.
 
But as the final seconds ticked off the clock this year, any potential drama had long been sucked out of their Flint Hills League showdown. Osage City capitalized on three first-half turnovers by the host Braves to take a commanding 20-0 halftime lead and rode a suffocating defensive effort to a decisive 43-0 shutout in the KSHSAA Covered Game of the Week.
 
The win was the 10th straight in the series for the Indians and arguably the most impressive.
 
“Our defense played really well, their best outing of the year,” Osage City coach Andrew Gantenbein said. “We were able to draw energy from that. I feel like we’ve been a little bit inconsistent (on defense) this year but tonight was the best we played so far.”
 

 
It didn’t exactly start out that way. On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Council Grove quarterback Luke Stewart – returning for the first time since getting injured in the season opener – found Sy’ied Smith Jenkins all alone behind the Osage City secondary for a 48-yard connection that immediately put the Braves on the doorstep.
 
After moving to the 11, however, the Braves bobbled a toss sweep and Osage City’s Zach Green was there to pounce on the loose ball for a key turnover. The Indians quickly maneuvered down the field and Kasen Parsons capped a quick scoring drive with a 1-yard TD run.
 
And that’s how the first half went. Council Grove’s first three possessions ended with turnovers as the Braves lost another fumble on their second possession and Stewart was picked off by Parsons on a desperation jump-ball throw on the third. Each time, the Indians converted the turnovers into touchdowns with Parsons scoring on a 14-yard run late in the first quarter and then hooking up with Quenten Stark on a 61-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.
 
“We started fast on that first play and we just weren’t able to capitalize,” Council Grove coach Derron Reddick said. “And then we let one mistake turn into too many tonight. It was unfortunate we weren’t able to bounce back. We’ve got to coach better, play better and get ready for the rest of our district.”
 

 
Going into the game, Reddick had been extremely pleased with the performance of his offensive and defensive lines, calling the play of the offensive line the strongest unit on the team in the Braves’ 4-0 start.
 
But that unit met its match as Osage City’s defensive front completely controlled the line of scrimmage. Despite having to prepare for the potential of Stewart’s return or Council Grove going with fill-in Reid Buttrey, who’d enjoyed great success, the Indians more than handled whatever the Braves threw at them offensively.
 
After giving up the 48-yard play to start the game, Osage City’s defense allowed just 88 yards the rest of the game. Though the Indians only wound up with two sacks, the front constantly pressured Stewart and as a team the Indians had 7 tackles for loss.
 
“We came out and did what we needed to and played our game and kept a calm head,” Green said. “It’s the work we put in at practice and our scout team is better than any scout team in 2A. Doing that every day, putting in the work, it shows on Friday night. I felt like we were under control and with us being under control, that gives the secondary confidence and when they guard good, it makes us good.”
 
“Kudos to them, they beat us up front both ways,” Reddick said. “They beat us at the skill spots too and they out one-on-oned us tonight and had a great game plan.”
 

 
While Council Grove was never able to get anything going offensively, Osage City seemingly did whatever it wanted as the Indians racked up 496 yards of total offense in the game.
 
In addition to rushing for 3 touchdowns, his third a 3-yarder early in the third quarter, Parsons also threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns. He hit Reed Silver on scoring strikes of 60 and 17 yards in the second half to complete the Indians’ scoring.
 
“We’ve been putting it together all week for this game because we knew they’d be hungry for it this year after last year’s loss,” Parsons said of the Indians’ 26-20 win last year that came on Parsons’ touchdown pass to Dylan Theel on the final play of the game. “We just came out and did what we do for Osage City football and our culture. We got it done today.”
 
Stark had 109 yards receiving while Silver had 92 yards receiving and also led the defense with 9 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.
 
The victory gives Osage City (5-0) an early leg up in a district that was the toughest in Class 2A last year and won’t be any easier this year with the likes of Silver Lake, St. Marys and Riley County coming in the weeks ahead, starting with a home game against St. Marys next week.
 
“We feel like we can be a pretty good team, but there’s a lot of things we can still improve upon,” Gantenbein said. “We’ll go watch film and get better for next week.”
 
While disappointed with the loss, Reddick need only to point to last year to let his team know how capable it is of bouncing back. The Braves wound up finishing fourth in the district a year ago, getting into the playoffs on a tiebreaker, but caught fire in the postseason and reached the state semifinals for the first time in program history.
 
“That’s the cool thing and silver lining to this,” he said. “We’ve been here before. Maybe not 43-0, but we’ve been in this boat where we have to come back in our district and the kids have the right mindset to regroup.”
 

 
OSAGE CITY 43, COUNCIL GROVE 0
 
Osage City (5-0) … 14 … 6 … 16 … 7 … -- … 43
 
Council Grove (4-1) … 0 … 0 … 0 … 0 … -- … 0
 
Osage City – Kasen Parsons 1-yard run (Quenten Stark run)
 
Osage City – Parsons 14-yard run (pass failed)
 
Osage City –Stark 61-yard pass from Parsons (bad snap on PAT)
 
Osage City – Parsons 3-yard run (Parsons run)
 
Osage City – Reed Silver 60-yard pass from Parsons (Parsons run)
 
Osage City – Silver 17-yard pass from Parsons (Sawyer Speece kick)