Linn (1-7) traveled to South Callaway on Friday and fell to the Bulldogs, 58-14, but despite the loss, Head Coach Steve Samson saw some positives.

“Everybody who dressed, I think, played,” he said. “We got our second group of running backs and second quarterback in, and they moved the ball fairly well. I think we subbed a little bit on our line, but most of those guys were starters. They’re young. We’ve got freshmen and sophomores starting on the offensive line. It’s good to get kids playing time in a varsity game. Hopefully, that helps us in the long run, the next few years.”

Despite playing with a target on his helmet, Tommy Scheulen rushed for 79 yards on 11 carries. “In the last two games, they’ve really concentrated on taking Tommy away, which they will. To stop an option team, you’ve got to stop the fullback. We had another player step up.”

Knox Sowders posted 49 yards on five carries with a five-yard TD in the fourth. Scheulen punched in the two-point conversion. “Knox did a pretty good job when he came in,” said Samson. “He adds another dimension to us because he’s a little faster than most people.

Aaden Nelson ran for 36 yards on two carries with a 22-yard score in the waning moments of the game.

Hunter Bish went 5-9 for 33 yards with a long of 15, as Paul Lopez accounted for 27 yards on three catches, and Titus Black had a six-yard completion.

“Sometimes, they had 10 or 11 on the box, so we threw the ball to try to loosen them up, which worked a little bit,” said Samson. “We don’t have to throw it a bunch, but we need to throw it efficiently, which will help loosen up the defense and allow the running game, because that’s what we’re good at.”

Defensively, Tyler Wagner and Craig Laughlin posted 10 and six tackles, respectively, as Jason Greer added five, and Ben Muenks and Black each posted four.

Linn hosts Harrisburg on Friday in the final regular-season game. “They’re gonna come in and play hard,” said Samson. “We’re going to have to eliminate mistakes and play an almost perfect game. They’re going to try to run over us. Harrisburg is down from last year, but they still have enough weapons to win some games. If we can play like we did against MMA, without procedural mistakes, we have a chance.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.