There was time to relax for the Fulton Hornets.
After topping the Kirksville Tigers 41-20 to secure a home game and the No. 3 seed in the Class 3, District 6 playoffs, Fulton head coach Pat Kelley said a load was let off the Hornets, that they could take a breath.
It was just a temporary break, though.
"You want to keep the intensity now, because it's sudden death," Kelley said Tuesday afternoon. "If you lose, you're done."
The Hornets will try to extend their season for at least another week when they host the No. 6 seed Eldon Mustangs in a District 6 quarterfinal game at 7 tonight at Robert E. Fisher Stadium.
Fulton (5-4) has won two of its last three entering district play, including that North Central Missouri Conference triumph last week in Kirksville.
Stating his team had yet to play its best game, Kelley noted that the Hornets showed out well in the opening half against the Tigers - as evidenced by the 21-0 advantage they carried into halftime.
Kirksville drew within 28-20 midway through the fourth quarter, before Fulton pulled away on a long touchdown run by junior running back Travis Dean and a pair of defensive stops.
"The kids hung in and always had an answer," Kelley said. "We wanted to come out with a win, and in conference you can never say it'll be an easy game. It was a battle."
Fulton now carries that spark into tonight's clash with Eldon, hoping to replicate last year's district success. The Hornets entered as the No. 5 seed and had lost in a row. A touchdown in the game's final minute propelled them to a 34-30 victory at Chillicothe and into the semifinals, where they fell to eventual district champion California.
When Kelley examines the Mustangs, he sees a squad in a similar rut as Fulton was last year at this juncture.
"They've played good competition," Kelley said. "They've lost three games in a row and they're looking for redemption in district competition, and I asked the guys if that reminded them of anybody they knew, because it was like us last year.
"We have to match their intensity."
Eldon (3-6) bowed at Southern Boone 19-14 last week, slipping from the fifth position in the district standings.
Offensively, the Mustangs present a similar look to the one the Hornets faced two weeks ago against Mexico. Eldon keeps its offensive line splits tight and fields a trio of backs behind sophomore quarterback Austin Kempker (5-foot-8, 150 pounds).
Eldon's offense, defense and special teams run through junior running back Levi Shinn.
The 6-0, 175-pound Shinn rushed for 73 yards on 14 carries against Southern Boone and caught a team-high four passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. From his outside linebacker position, he registered 2.5 tackles, converted a pair of extra points as the team's placekicker, punted twice and returned a kickoff.
"He does it all - he runs, he catches, he punts, he kicks, he returns kicks, he plays defense," Kelley said. "He makes them go."
Kelley likened Shinn's versatility to what the Hornets saw last week from Kirksville's Makenna Cook and noticed that Shinn's running style is shifty, with breakaway ability.
The Mustangs' offense doesn't run too many option sets, but the line play and misdirection that it showcases is causing Kelley's defense to treat it like they would an option-heavy attack.
"You watch them and they're very elusive in what they do; it's a power-run team, but their linemen, it's probably the first team in a long time that gives false keys," Kelley said. "You can't just read the linemen. The quarterback does a good job with misdirection and we almost have to treat it like an option team and play assignment football."
Eldon operates out of a 3-5-3 defensive scheme, similar to the ones Tri County Conference mates School of the Osage and Versailles ran against Fulton in the season's opening two weeks. The Mustangs don't hesitate to bring pressure from all directions, something the Hornets' offensive line has gradually gotten better at picking up.
"Kirksville was bringing six and seven guys at a time and we were able to pick it up," Kelley said. "We'll see a lot of that this week and we'll be ready for that."
And they're also ready for the do-or-die scenario that district football presents.
"This is it; you've got one game ... you can't look ahead and you can't plan for anybody but your next opponent," Kelley said. "You can't talk about anybody else, this is the game.
"We got ourselves in the position that we wanted to be with this game at home, and now we have to go out and perform."
In tonight's other District 6 quarterfinal games, No. 1 seed California (9-0) - ranked No. 2 in the state - hosts No. 8 seed Versailles (1-8), No. 2 seed Blair Oaks (7-2) - ranked No. 8 - is at home against No. 7 seed Boonville (2-7), and No. 4 seed Owensville (3-6) hosts No. 5 Southern Boone (3-6).