No. 2 seed Fulton has a tough test ahead of it going into tonight's Class 3, District 6 semifinal against No. 6 seed Southern Boone at Robert E. Fisher Jr. Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
The Hornets' task was made even more difficult when they lost a dynamic piece of their offense.
Fulton's phenomenal senior running back Travis Dean suffered an ACL tear in last week's 40-15 first-round win over No. 7 seed Boonville and will miss the rest of the season, Hornets head coach Pat Kelley revealed Wednesday. Dean had already become the school's single-season rushing leader with 1,920 yards when he went down with the stunning knee injury early in the fourth quarter.
"Obviously when you lose someone with the talent Travis has, it hurts the psyche of the team," Kelley said Thursday."In the four years I've coached him, it's been a blessing.
"I feel horrible for Travis. He's a good kid and a good student. This past spring he has put so much into wanting to play his senior season. It's sad that his career had to end this way."
Entering tonight's clash with the Eagles, Kelley has been emphazing and reassuring the Hornets of his "next man up" philosophy.
"It (game plan) won't change a whole lot," Kelley said.
Fulton will now turn to sophomore running backs Ammod Davis and Cameron Vaughn to try to fill the void left by Dean's injury. Davis has gained 314 yards and has four touchdowns on 42 carries this season, while Vaughn has 84 yards and a score in 19 attempts.
Vaughn finished with 63 yards on eight carries last week.
"Obviously they aren't seniors, they aren't seasoned and they don't have the experience that Travis has, and probably aren't the home-run hitters like Travis is, but you know it's just one of those things," Kelley said. "It's adversity that you face every year and ... we're still going to try to run the ball and throw the ball, and score."
Southern Boone (6-4) comes into tonight's matchup following a 48-21 upset win at No. 3 seed California last week. Kelley said junior quarterback Devin Masek and the Hornets' passing game can play a pivotal role tonight because of the Eagles' five-man defensive front.
"They're geared to stop the run, so if that means we have to throw the ball more, we'll throw the ball more," Kelley said. "They're a team where we haven't played each other in about three or four years and they had a different head coach the last time we played them, so it's an entirely different scheme.
"It'll be quite a chess match early on to feel each other out."
Masek has thrown for 1,378 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He has also rushed for 441 yards and nine scores.
"Depending on what we see early on, we know that attacking the middle, we're going to have to do it some to keep them honest," Kelley said. "We're going to try to attack the perimeter and we've watched them, and they're primarily set up as a run defense, so if we can throw the ball and have success, we'll try to do that as well."
Though Fulton hasn't played Southern Boone during head coach Trent Tracy's tenure there, the Hornets expect to face an offense similar to North Central Missouri Conference foe Moberly.
"They run a spread offense," Kelley said. "Coach Tracy spent a lot of time in Moberly as an assistant, so you see a lot of what they have done at Southern Boone and what we've played against in Moberly.
"They run out of the shotgun, they run out of a little pistol, they have a power look out of the shotgun. And like Moberly, they like the bubble pass. They like to draw you inside with a lot of play action and then flip it out to those guys in the slots. It's a lot to look at."
Kelley stressed that Fulton's defense will have to find a way to slow Southern Boone senior running back Laron Wallace (5-foot-10, 180 pounds).
"We aren't going to stop him by any stretch of the imagination, but we're going to have to slow him down," Kelley said. "He's an awful good running back.
"He plays both sides of the ball, he returns kicks and he's usually the first guy down on kickoff coverage. He's quite an athlete and was quite impressive against California last week."
Kelley also noted that the Eagles employ a two-quarterback system with senior Dane Bossert and junior Spencer Taggart.
Bossert has taken more snaps as Southern Boone's "throwing quarterback." In a 48-0 victory over South Callaway earlier this season, he was 10-of-13 passing for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Bossert also ran for 53 yards and a score in the win.
"We haven't figured out exactly what they do with their quarterbacks, but they play with two different quarterbacks during the game," Kelley said. "One's a better thrower, one's a better runner."