Scott City looking for similar result against East Prairie in rematch

Since the start of training camp, Scott City head coach Brian Beaubien’s primary focus has been preparing the Rams for the playoffs.

Regardless of whether they win or lose during the regular season, progress was the purpose.

Now, the playoffs are here. Everything the Rams worked for will be applied on Friday, Nov. 1, at East Prairie.

The Rams started the season with a shutout win over the Eagles on the road on Aug. 30. That game turned out to be the difference in Scott City winning the Scott-Miss Conference championship.

This time around, the only similarities between Week 1 and Week 10 are the school names and venue.

"I think this game is going to be, actually, completely different," Scott City senior receiver Lane Holder said. "They've changed a lot of their offense. They do a bunch of different stuff and run misdirection now. So now we're basically just trying to get out here and work on that because it's gonna be a completely different atmosphere."

During the season opener, Scott City junior Rustyn Underwood established himself as one of the best running backs in the area with a 280-yard, two-touchdown performance against East Prairie. He went on to lead the Rams with 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns.

The Eagles (7-2) started the season 2-2 but turned their season around and won five straight to earn the No. 3 seed in a widely competitive Class 2 District 2 field.

East Prairie has been led on offense by running back Tavion Ware, who has rushed for 1,411 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Eagles defense is led by Connor Marcum's 64 tackles and Ty Wallace's four interceptions.

The Rams will need their defense to step up and ground the Eagles this week like they did in August. Scott City is led by linebacker Lane Miller, who has recorded 83 tackles, one sack, and two interceptions. Jackson Gloth has starred on defense with five interceptions and Carter Burger has had a similar impact in the pass rush with six sacks.

His talent is through the roof. He's got great potential," Beaubien said of Burger earlier in the season. "He's been so talented his whole life he's never really had to rely on being really fundamental."

Scott City (5-4) finished the regular season with a major loss to undefeated Dexter. The Rams have averaged 24.7 points per game both on offense and defense this year.

"Dexter is a big, physical powerhouse in Class 3. I think they'll go pretty far," Holder said. "We made mistakes, and had three turnovers, and turnovers kill you."

Failure has been a key motivator for the Rams (5-4), who have lost three of their last four games and are desperate to not have their season end in a whimper.

"I think the most progress has come during the losing," Holder. "We've realized that we're not playing great in the first half. We've been getting the rumor that we're a second-half team. We're kind of focusing on getting better in the first half and coming out and punching people in the mouth because that's what Coach Bo has been emphasizing. We got to come out first play and beat them because that's the only way you can win."

The winner between Scott City and East Prairie will face the winner between Caruthersville and Portageville in the C2D2 semifinals.