Forget about whether or not tonight’s final regular-season SoBoCo Eagles will be competitive.

The Versailles Tigers are not going to be capable of competing with the Eagles for much past the first quarter.

That said, if the Eagles go out and think this is going to be a grade school picnic, they just might get surprised.

So the message of Coach Trent Tracy and coaches is basic: “Go take care of business.”

The Eagles need to put Versailles away early, avoid injuries before the playoffs and get their reserves some valuable experience.

In other words, look for sophomore quarterback Tyson Smith to get most of the snaps in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles offense has kicked things into high gear the past two weeks, scoring at will in the first halfs at California and last week vs Warsaw.

Senior running backs Jackson Sartain and Cooper Mange have been busting through holes created by an offensive line that is playing its best football of the fall.

Look for the Eagles to hand the ball to Sartain and Mange as well as Colby Phillips and sophomore Tristan John – and only pass because Coach Tracy wants to give quarterback Sam Stichnote some exercise for his right arm.

Where the Eagles have been handling opponents in recent weeks is an improved defense.

If clamping down on Warsaw and California was not impressive enough, consider that the Eagles defense held the state’s No. 2 team, Blair Oaks, to only two touchdowns before a pair of fourth quarter interceptions gave the Falcons a very short field for their final scores in the final nine minutes.

The Eagles defense is for real.

Versailles will bring tough running back Taylor Dobbins to town, but the SoBoCo defensive line will out-man the Tigers and Dobbins will have to take on a tough Eagles linebacking crew.

This is a game the Eagles can lose only if they are looking at next week’s district opener.

Southern Boone 48 Versailles 6