Moniteau got its offense going last week, scoring 42 points at Clarion-Limestone.

Coach Steve Wilson just wants his team to get it going a little quicker.

"Our first quarter was kinda ugly up there,"Wilson said. "Once we were able to figure out and adjust to what they were trying to do, we played well.

"Unfortunately, the other team doesn't tell you ahead of time what they're gonna do to try to stop you. We can't take a whole quarter to figure that out."

The Warriors host St. Marys — a 28-13 loser to Karns City last week — at 7 p.m. Friday in Week 2.

While Moniteau excelled offensively in Week 1, the Flying Dutchmen struggled. St. Marys generated only 161 yards in net offense. Quarterback Bryan Dempsey completed six of 18 passes for 61 yards.

Running back Brian Tamburlin, who rushed for 764 yards and 10 touchdowns last year as St. Marys enjoyed its first winning regular season in 20 years, had 17 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

"Brian's only a junior, so he's going to have a stellar career," St. Marys coach Joe Schlimm said. "But we can't rely just on him. You have to show a degree of diversity.

"If you can only do one thing with the football, somebody will find a way to beat you."

There was no beating Moniteau last week. Sophomore Justin Sanderson had five quarterback sacks from his nose guard position, Clay Drnek had a critical interception before halftime and tackle Justin Castello keyed a solid running game.

Adam Cousins rushed for two touchdowns, kicked a field goal and returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.

"Adam can do so many things for us,"Wilson said. "He's a definite leader on this team. Sometimes it's hard to get him off the field, he's such a key to all three units."

St. Marys plays a defense that mirrors Moniteau's, a 3-5 formation that blitzes at least two defenders on every play.

"How well we pick up their blitz will determine whether we win this game,"Wilson said. "They're not a big team, but they fly to the ball.

"The fact we run the same defense may work to our advantage. We'll see."

The fact Moniteau doesn't have Matt Schandelmeier to rely on anymore may work to the Warriors' advantage as well.

"They relied on Schandelmeier last year and everyone knew that,"Schlimm said. "They're so much more diversified this year. They throw the ball better and they have more kids involved.

"Their numbers are up and they're much harder to defend. Moniteau's program is a real up-and-comer in the district, if you ask me."

Moniteau quarterback Josh Loos attempted only 12 passes last week, completing three.

"We had a couple of passes dropped in the beginning of the game," Wilson said. "Then we built the lead and didn't throw at all in the fourth quarter. Circumstances didn't dictate throwing the ball."

Moniteau scored points in a variety of ways last week:Running the ball, on special teams, and using an interception to set up a field goal.

Wilson likes it that way.

"You want to win two of the three phases of the game every week," he said. "We received offensive production from all three phases. We take pride in that."

Schlimm said his defense, led by linebacker Mark Lang and nose guard Josh Eichmiller, played well last week.

"We didn't do much on offense to help our defense," he said. "We've got to limit our mistakes."

The Dutchmen return four starters on offense and four on defense.

"We had a number of kids playing their first varsity football game last week," Schlimm said. "Mental errors hurt us that way. Hopefully, those first-game jitters will be gone."