By Ryan Atkinson

ratkinson@joplinglobe.com

The Ozark Conference portion of the Joplin Eagles’ schedule was nice while it lasted.

The Eagles finished their first seven games with a 6-1 record, a share of the conference crown, a reliable offense and an improving defense.

Now it’s time for the real games to begin.

Joplin travels to suburban Kansas City tonight to face the Lee’s Summit North Broncos to open Class 6 District 7 play.

Lee’s Summit faces Rockhurst in the district’s other game.

“Obviously, it’s a big ball game,” Joplin head coach Doug Buckmaster said. “It’s the first district game ... two teams go to the playoffs now. It’s very, very big. It’s huge.”

The Eagles — averaging 451 yards per game — will likely need another strong showing from their offense. In its lone loss of the season, Joplin was held to just 20 points, a far cry from its average of 44 per game.

While Joplin quarterback Devin St. Clair has thrown for 1,858 yards, both Buckmaster and Lee’s Summit North coach Harold Wambsgans agree that the key for the Eagles is in the running game.

“We need to run the football to be successful,” Buckmaster said. “We try to be balanced every week. A team like Lebanon, maybe they’re more one-dimensional. They throw first but they can’t run the ball. If someone takes something away from us, we have to have somewhere to go ... and most teams are going to try to take away the run first. That’s what Lee’s Summit North has done the last three years.”

Most of the ground game will go through junior Ron King. King was held to just 47 yards on 23 carries in last week’s win against Lebanon. But King picked up a handful of crucial first downs to help thwart a Yellowjacket comeback.

The Eagle offense has been led virtually all season by receiver Dane Kolkmeyer, who has 67 catches for 1,118 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Other contributors, however, have shown impressive flashes in recent weeks. Cory Macy, Gates Sanders, Sam Nguyen and others will be key for the Eagles in district play.

“Guys like that are huge,” Buckmaster said. “We want to utilize everyone in our offense. A lot of weeks Dane was more of a focal point and that’s usually because of what defenses have done to us. But we have to spread the ball around.”