Hornets look to continue progress against MMA

Fulton head coach Pat Kelley said the Hornets' impressive win against the Versailles Tigers last week wasn't a case of the squad firing on all cylinders.

But it was certainly a step in the right direction.

"Obviously it's an improvement on week one, but there's still a lot of work to do, too," Kelley said.

The Hornets will look to keep progressing in tonight's matchup against the Missouri Military Academy Colonels in Mexico. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Fulton (1-1) is fresh off the resounding 43-6 triumph against Versailles in its home opener. The Hornets owned a 30-0 halftime lead and displayed a big-play ability on offense and stoutness on defense.

Fulton produced 420 total yards, paced by a running game that produced 264 yards on 30 carries (8.8 average).

The Hornets used those hefty numbers to produce lengthy scoring plays from their backfield. Senior running back Dominique Ford ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, while junior running back Travis Dean took an option pitch from senior quarterback Sam Christensen and raced around the edge for a 27-yard score on Fulton's next possession.

Dean rushed for a game-high 110 yards in eight attempts, Christensen produced 81 yards on eight carries and Ford collected 72 yards in seven attempts, including a 4-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.

The explosive plays weren't just limited to the Hornets' ground game, though. Christensen and senior wide receiver Devin Gibson connected on three touchdown passes covering 47, 10 and 19 yards, respectively.

On defense, the Hornets limited the Tigers to 161 total yards, forced three turnovers and logged two sacks.

But Kelley did make note of two first-quarter possessions where Fulton's offense went deep into Versailles territory, only to have the momentum cut off by a penalty the first time and a turnover the second.

Defensively, some bad pursuit angles of the Tigers' cornerbacks and a few missed tackles in the backfield were critical issues Kelley stressed that the Hornets need to clean up.

"We want to be solid in our fundamentals and that's kind of what we're working on right now," Kelley said.

Meanwhile, Kelley sees a difference this season in MMA.

"This isn't like any MMA team we've played in the past," Kelley said. "They're disciplined, they don't make a lot of mistakes, they've got some really good skill kids, so this is a preparation just like any other week."

The Colonels (0-1) dropped their season opener at Van-Far 22-6 last week, and are led on both sides of the ball by versatile senior Isaiah Adkins. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Adkins was all over the field against the Indians, lining up at quarterback, running back, linebacker and punter.

Adkins' one pass attempt fell incomplete, but he ran the ball 15 times for 123 of MMA's 138 yards rushing and scored its only touchdown.

He also caught two passes for 27 yards, added six tackles and a sack on defense and averaged 30.5 yards on two punts. Adkins will be featured quite a bit against the Hornets as the key component in the Colonels' power, double-wing attack.

Fulton is coming off consecutive weeks playing against bigger backs, including last week against Versailles senior Michael Allen, who is of similar stature to Adkins.

Kelley said it was helpful for the Hornets to face a bigger rusher as they'll continue to see backs of his size as the season wears on.

MMA sophomore quarterback Sean Fitzgerald also took snaps against Van-Far and completed 4-of-12 passes, but Kelley doesn't expect the Colonels to put the ball in the air too much tonight.

"With the big running back, they like to run him at you and make you clamp down on that, then come out and run the counter. We've got to be prepared," Kelley said.

MMA employs a 3-5-3 defensive scheme that is attacking and active, as evidenced by its five sacks last week. Kelley calls Adkins and the rest of the Colonel linebackers "tough," and said the Hornets will have to "do things well" to gain yards.

Last week was an improvement for Kelley's team. Now he'd like to see that carry over to tonight.

"... It's nice to get a win under your belt, but I told them in the locker room right after, "It's week two - there's seven more weeks till districts and we need to improve," Kelley said.