It was a tale of two halves for Fort Osage on Friday night in Belton.
The Indians (4-1), started fast in their 31-3 win, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead just six plays into the game, thanks to a 39-yard touchdown pass from Greg Menne to Brody McBee.
As the half wore on, Fort Osage made several mistakes that extended Belton’s lone scoring drive of the night — two personal foul penalties and an offside penalty on 4th-and-goal — led to Trey Bettincourt’s 34-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 7-3 going into halftime.
“Things weren’t always going our way in the first half,” Fort Osage coach Brock Bult said. “We stuck together. … We got some stuff cleaned up in the second half and got it rolling. We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up still. It’s another great situation when you can win a game and still get better afterwards.”
Looking for a spark, Bult turned to his offense to get his team back on track and it was the combo of junior wide receiver Larenzo Fenner and Menne that provided the spark.
Fenner, who hadn’t seen much action early, pushed Fort Osage’s lead to 14-3 as he hauled in a perfectly placed pass from Menne for a 24-yard touchdown.
“If they’re (Belton) are going to double him (Fenner) and take a guy out of the box we’re going to run the ball,” Bult said. “If they want to leave him in single coverage, then we’re going to take our shots with him.”
After Xander Shepherd tacked on a 45-yard field goal late in the third quarter to give the Indians a comfortable 17-3 lead, it was the Indians’ defense that stole the show as they stopped the Pirates on fourth down and later capped off the night as David Jacquez intercepted Greg Lyles.
Jacquez’s return setup Javen Hall’s 5-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.
“It took some time for our defense to get settled in against (Belton’s) offense,” Bult said. “But once they got settled in, they started playing really well.”
Fort Osage and Belton are both back in action next Friday. The Indians will travel to Grain Valley, while Belton hosts Raytown.
