When Rock Bridge walked off the field last Friday after its victory over Francis Howell Central in the first round of district play, it received word of the result in St. Charles between Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt.

After nearly blowing a 30-13 lead in the second half, Howell hung on at the end to secure a 35-27 victory, setting up a rematch with Rock Bridge in the district semifinals.

The winner will continue to the finals of district play and play the winner of Blue Springs and Blue Springs South. But for now, neither Rock Bridge nor Francis Howell will have their minds on anything but each other.

The two teams played in a thriller back on Oct. 19. The Bruins jumped out to a 21-0 lead before the Vikings slowly crept back into the game. Each time they did, a Bruins player was ready to make a big play, and Howell was never able to complete the comeback.

With his team leading 28-21 late in the fourth quarter, Nate Peat unleashed his most impressive run of the season, turning the corner and outracing the entire Howell secondary 71 yards to the end zone. Game over.

That win was nice, players and coaches say, but it couldnt be farther from their minds. The Francis Howell team that was beaten that night is not the same one that is going to get off the bus in Columbia.

They want you, Rock Bridge coach Van Vanatta told his team, and they are convinced they can beat you.

Both teams are 9-2, and the talent margin between the pair is thin, if it even exists at all. To beat a team like Howell, playing fundamentally sound football is a must. Rock Bridge had several players make crucial plays to swing the momentum each time Howell thought that it was going to get back on level terms, but Vanatta said that his team cant rely on those to win a game like this.

You have to play good football, and we really didnt, Vanatta said. We had 14 penalties, special teams mishaps that gave them momentum. We had some breakdowns offensively up front, and weve just got to try and clean that up.

Plenty of those 14 penalties turned out to be drive killers. Quarterback Grant Hajicek was sacked five times and the Bruins fumbled two kickoff returns.

Despite the errors, Rock Bridge made plays it needed to and took advantage of a series of costly miscues from Francis Howell. The Vikings had three snaps fly over quarterback Aidan McDaniels head, killing the drives and allowing Rock Bridge to build a 21-0 lead.

McDaniel also tossed two crucial interceptions, one in the first quarter to Spencer Nivens that was returned for a touchdown, and the other to Peyton Carr late in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Will Norris was proud of his teams defensive effort to preserve the lead at the end but said that Howell will play a much cleaner game with the stakes higher.

We got to be more physical and we got to be smarter, Norris said. We messed up a couple times. They had a couple bad snaps. Coach said thats not going to happen again. That killed them a couple times, makes it a whole different ball game.

While Howell will have all the motivation it needs after losing the first of the teams matchups, Norris said the sting of the teams 16-13 overtime loss to Blue Springs in last years district semifinal has not completely dissipated, and that building on last years success would be huge for the program.

Were trying to make it past that, and hopefully we can keep our winning streak rolling, Norris said.

Howell will lean on McDaniel to make plays, but will also rely on running back Gideon Niboh to match his effort from the regular series finale. Niboh made Bruins defenders miserable, rushing for 198 yards. He broke off a huge gain into Rock Bridge territory in the fourth quarter of his heroic effort, only to see the next play result in an interception.

As he spoke to his team, his voice had become calm. Vanatta assured his players they would lose if they didnt play with the same fire as their opponent. He then reminded them, as always, that if they did their jobs, they would win.We just have to be mentally focused and be ready to match the intensity, Vanatta said. I truly believe its going to come down to the fourth quarter, and weve got to be ready to play football, thats the bottom line.