FULTON - After 18 years on the sideline, the yearly meetings between Fulton and rival Mexico have "all run together" for Hornets head coach Pat Kelley.
Some had more at stake than others, but the annual North Central Missouri Conference showdown between the adversaries is never void of meaning.
"It's a special game," Kelley said. "... Between us, you don't see a lot of pushing and the shoving, and all of that; the kids respect each other and it's big."
Bragging rights, district points and, of course, the Highway 54 sign will all be up for grabs when the Hornets host the Bulldogs for Homecoming tonight at Robert E. Fisher Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Fulton (4-3, 2-2 NCMC) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 20-6 conference win at Boonville last week. The Hornets shut the Pirates out for 31/2 quarters, limited them to 56 rushing yards and were penalized a season-low three times.
Though there are things he'd like to clean up - turnovers and fruitless scoring drives - Kelley sees his squad trending in the right direction headed into tonight's clash.
"Every time you win, you feel better; we've gotten better, really, every week in some form or fashion," Kelley said. "We just need to put it all together.
"... We're just looking for that night where we put it all together on both sides."
Doing that against Mexico - which shut out Fulton 21-0 last season - would be a welcome development.
The Bulldogs (5-2, 3-1) - led by first-year head coach Steve Haag - enter the game with a new-look, double-wing running attack that has bludgeoned the opposition through seven games.
Mexico averages 292.9 yards on 46 rushes per game. In last week's 47-13 NCMC home romp against Kirksville, the Bulldogs racked up 404 rushing yards on 38 carries (10.6 average).
"It's run, run, run," Kelley said. "It's nothing fancy up front; they're just coming after you."
The Bulldogs' line utilizes small splits in order to produce large gains, particularly from their pair of 100 yard-per-game running backs.
Junior fullback Karsten Eckern - a 6-foot, 185-pounder - leads Mexico in carries (132), yards (787) and touchdowns (10). Eckern - averaging 112 yards per game - is "his own lead blocker," according to Kelley.
If Eckern is the Bulldogs' downhill, north-and-south run threat, junior D'Milo Nunnelly (5-10, 174) is the lightning that can strike the defense from anywhere on the field. Nunnelly has 726 yards in just 52 attempts (14.0 average) and nine touchdowns.
Mexico runs Nunnelly on the pitch and jet sweeps to get him in space, while Eckern will occasionally run outside but mostly does his damage between the tackles.
"Nunnelly is fast. Bottom line is he's a really fast kid, and the Eckern kid is a bruiser," Kelley said.
The Mexico offense is led by junior quarterback Spencer Thomas. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Thomas has completed only 41 percent of his passes (14-of-34) for 143 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Thomas has also gained just 45 yards on 46 carries this, but has scored four times.
"You have to watch out for him, too," Kelley said. "If we have our choice of who to run the ball, it'll be him."
Defensively, the Bulldogs field a 3-3-5 stack alignment with physical linemen and linebackers, and a secondary that Kelley calls "the most athletic we'll see all year."
Senior Skylar Harrington (5-8, 160) leads Mexico with three interceptions, while senior Cole Jaramillio (6-1, 175) and junior Wes Oetting (6-1, 155) both have two picks.
"They've got a lot of speed, they break to the ball fast, they tackle well, they read routes well," Kelley said. "Our receivers have their work cut out for them."
Kelley believes the best way for the Hornets to defend against the Bulldogs' offense might be in keeping it off the field for as long as possible. Fulton's offense traveled into Mexico territory on 4-of-7 possessions in last season's loss, coming away scoreless each time.
"You have to take advantage of every opportunity you get and every chance you get, because you won't have a lot of them," Kelley said.
All the added bells and whistles in tonight's matchup - homecoming, district jockeying, street signs, etc. - don't take away from this being another chance at a win for Kelley and the Hornets.
"The bottom part of it is you want to beat your rival and, more importantly, you want to win game No. 5," Kelley said.
Fulton hosts Mexico - Updates on Twitter: @FultonSunSports