The Fulton Hornets were a little more than five minutes away from a shutout in last week's 43-6 win over the Versailles Tigers.
Fulton completed the feat this time around, albeit in just one half.
The Hornets smothered the Missouri Military Academy Colonels offense, allowing just 7 yards in a 28-0 victory on Friday night. The game was called at halftime due to lightning in the area.
Fulton (2-1) held MMA without a completed pass, while limiting the Colonels' run game to only seven yards on 17 carries.
The Hornets' defense made the first mark on the scoreboard just 47 seconds into the game. Senior linebacker Noah Braun wrapped up MMA sophomore quarterback Sean Fitzgerald in his own end zone for a safety, giving Fulton a 2-0 lead.
The Hornets' offense got the free kick from its own 23-yard line and quickly moved down the field. Fulton ran seven plays and covered 77 yards in just 1:43, culminating in a 1-yard scoring run by senior running back Dominique Ford with 9:22 left in the first quarter.
The Colonels went three-and-out on their next series and Fulton needed just four plays to enter the end zone again. Senior quarterback Sam Christensen scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns on a 6-yard keeper, making it 14-0 with 5:20 remaining.
Yet, as easily as the Hornets moved the ball on their first two possessions, head coach Pat Kelley couldn't help but feel like his offense wasn't completely clicking.
"Right off the bat, getting the safety set the tone and we came right back and scored right away," Kelley said. "But again, we just made some mistakes and those things we have to take care of."
After Fulton forced MMA into another punt, junior returner Andy Baysinger failed to field it cleanly at his own 25. The Colonels recovered the fumble, setting themselves up at the Hornets' 25 with 2:49 to go in the quarter.
Fulton's defense, though, forced MMA to turn the ball over on downs and the Hornets got it back at their own 20.
Braun ran for 14 yards on the first play and Christensen hit senior wide receiver Devin Gibson down Fulton's sideline for a gain of 53 yards to set Fulton up with a first down at the Colonels' 20. Two plays later, Christensen was sacked for a 3-yard loss and stripped of the ball by an MMA defender less than a minute into the second quarter.
"Offensively, I just felt like we were a beat off, but we'll get better," Kelley said. "I don't think our intensity was where it needed to be, but we'll be back home and look at what we can look at on this."
But the Colonels were forced to punt again, allowing the Hornets to rediscover their groove. Fulton's ensuing five-play, 80-yard drive was topped off on another Christensen 6-yard touchdown run at the 7:38 mark to make it 20-0.
Christensen ran for 52 yards on seven carries, while completing all nine of his passes for 225 yards. Christensen hit seven different receivers, with six completions covering more than 20 yards.
Gibson gained a game-high 87 yards on two catches, while Braun hauled in two passes for 34 yards.
The Hornets took over at their own 23 after an MMA punt with 5:13 to go in the half. Fulton possessed the ball for 3:40 and ran nine plays to get their final touchdown, a Braun 3-yard scamper at the 1:33 mark. Ford ran in the two-point conversion to produce the final margin.
The 5-foot-6, 140-pound Ford led all rushers with 82 yards on 12 carries as he got the start in place of injured junior Travis Dean.
"He ran very hard tonight and did a lot of things well," Kelley said of Ford. "The more he gets carries, the better he's going to be."
Fulton racked up 360 yards of total offense, including 152 yards rushing on 22 carries. The Hornets, meanwhile, put the clamps on MMA senior running back Isaiah Adkins, limiting him to a mere 18 yards in 11 attempts.
The Hornets return home this week for their North Central Missouri Conference opener against Moberly. The Spartans started NCMC play Friday night by topping the Kirksville Tigers 16-6 in Moberly.
"It's the beginning of conference and I think we'll need to come out with a great deal more intensity," Kelley said. "We'll be ready to play next week."