Pat Kelley wanted his Fulton Hornets to make the state-ranked Hannibal Pirates earn everything they got in their North Central Missouri Conference clash.
Though the Hornets did just that, the Pirates gained more than enough to log the victory.
Fulton was shut out over the final three quarters in bowing to Hannibal 42-7 on Friday night at Robert E. Fisher Stadium.
The Hornets (3-3, 1-2 NCMC) were gashed by the Pirates for 379 yards rushing and allowed touchdowns on six of Hannibal's eight possessions. Sophomore running back Shemar Griffith fueled the Pirates' ground attack by rushing for a game-high 277 yards and four touchdowns.
Hannibal (5-1, 4-0) - ranked No. 9 in Class 4 - took the game's opening kickoff and quickly found itself in a third-and-5 at its own 25-yard line. Senior quarterback Austin Kirby, though, eluded Fulton pressure and connected with senior wide receiver Dalton Overstreet on a 26-yard pass to extend the possession.
Five plays later, Griffith raced 19 yards up the middle for a touchdown with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter. The Pirates forced the Hornets into a three-and-out on their opening series, then capped off a six-play, 56-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge by Griffith to make it 14-0 with 6:08 remaining.
"Bottom line, (Hannibal is) a great football team," Kelley said. "Up front, as good as Marshall's backs were last week, I think we didn't have an answer for (the Pirates)."
Fulton found some rhythm on its ensuing drive. The Hornets drew Hannibal offsides on a fourth-and-1 from the Fulton 49 to get a fresh set of downs. Senior quarterback Sam Christensen took a draw up the middle for 25 yards down to the Pirates' 17.
Junior running back Travis Dean then ripped off a 14-yard run off the right side two plays later. That set up Fulton's only touchdown on a 1-yard keeper by Christensen to cut the Hornets' deficit in half with 1:59 to go in the quarter.
Christensen gained a team-high 70 yards on 14 carries. Dean rushed for a season-low 41 yards on 16 carries and was kept out of the end zone for the first time this season.
"Everyone jumped to (Travis) and didn't tackle Sam," Kelley said. "We were running zone-read stuff and Travis is going to draw a crowd. He ran hard; he's bloody and banged and ran as hard as he could.
"A lot of times, they were caving in on Travis and that left Sam open."
Fulton sacked Kirby on the first play of Hannibal's next drive, but Griffith galloped up the middle for a 40-yard gain to the Fulton 9. Two plays later, senior running back Wyatt King scored on a 6-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. After a missed extra point, the Pirates led 20-7 with 11:56 to play in the first half.
The Hornets consumed 9:09 off the clock and ran 17 plays on their next possession, but came away without any points. Fulton picked up four first downs, including a 4-yard scramble by Christensen on fourth-and-1 to set up the Hornets with a first down at the Pirates' 6.
Dean gained 2 yards on first down, was stuffed on second and lost 2 yards on third down. Kelley decided to forego the field-goal attempt, leading to an incomplete pass from Christensen to senior running back Dominique Ford on fourth down as Hannibal took the ball over with 2:47 left in the half.
"If we score there, we get the ball at the second half and that was my process there," Kelley said.
The Hornets started the third quarter at their 34, but moved just 14 yards before being forced to punt. Hannibal responded with a 14-play, 57-yard march, getting another Griffith 1-yard score. Junior tight end Ricky Dorsey caught a 2-point conversion pass from junior wide receiver Jerry McBride to push the Pirates to a 28-7 advantage with 2:57 to go in the quarter.
"We talk about it all the time. The first six minutes of the game and the first six minutes of the second half, you want to try and control it, and we just didn't," Kelley said. "We came up and didn't convert, and again, hats off to (Hannibal)."
On Fulton's next series, Ford picked up just 2 yards on a fourth-and-5 from the Pirates' 22 as the Hornets turned the ball over on downs. Griffith immediately burst around the right side for an 80-yard touchdown run with 1:08 remaining in the quarter.
"The thing I was proud of was we only gave up one big play," Kelley said. "(The Pirates) earned every other touchdown they got."
Hannibal capped off its scoring on 2-yard effort by King with 8:20 left in the game. King finished with 112 yards on 22 carries.
The Hornets will attempt to snap their two-game skid this week in an NCMC battle at Boonville. The Pirates pulled out their first win of the season with a narrow 27-25 NCMC victory at Kirksville on Friday night.
"I told the kids we are in the same place we were last year," Kelley said. "We were 3-3 at this point last year; we've wanted to prove we're a better football team all year and this is a good chance to prove it."
•Notes: Despite Friday night's loss, Fulton is in third place in the Class 3, District 6 standings with 34.64 points. Owensville (3-3) is fourth with 33 points and Eldon (3-3) sits fifth with 31.21.