Hornets clobber Colonels in moving to 3-0

Fulton defense posts shutout, allows just 2 total yards to MMA

The Fulton Hornets offense exploded for another impressive number.

Still, it was tiny totals yielded by Fulton's defense that made the biggest impression on head coach Pat Kelley.

Fulton flustered the offense of the visiting Missouri Military Academy Colonels in a 69-0 bludgeoning Friday night at Robert E. Fisher Jr. Stadium.

The Hornets - off to their second 3-0 start in two years - punctuated their shutout with some stifling statistics. The Colonels (0-2) mustered a meager 2 yards of total offense, staying in the red thanks to junior quarterback Sean Fitzgerald's 15 passing yards on 1-of-6 completions.

Meanwhile, the Fulton run defense didn't give MMA much at all. The Hornets collapsed on top of the Colonels' ground game, holding them to minus-13 yards on 25 carries.

Fulton occupied most of the real estate in the trenches. The Hornets - holding MMA to a yard or less on 15 plays - came away with three sacks, three turnovers and their third defensive score in as many games.

The Fulton defense has relinquished just 22 points in the last 10 quarters.

"We had some good reads out on the edge when they were optioning, we covered the pass very well, so - all in all - it was a solid night on both sides of the ball," Kelley said.

The Hornets collected 397 yards of total offense in outdoing their onslaught in last week's 56-22 romp at Versailles.

Senior running back Travis Dean kickstarted Fulton's offensive outburst Friday night with a 29-yard scoring scamper on its' third play of the game with 8 minutes, 27 seconds left in the quarter.

Dean carried the ball just four times, scoring on three of them on his way to a game-high 70 yards rushing.

"You want to get him his touches and things like that on one hand, but on the other hand in a game like this if he got hurt, I'd feel really awful," Kelley said. "We've got six games coming up and he's very important, and we want to have our best players."

Fulton regained possession at its own 24 following a punt by the Colonels. Three plays into the series, junior quarterback Devin Masek found wide receiver De'Areyon Estes on a screen pass and the senior proceeded to make the most of his second-career reception.

Estes wove through the middle of the MMA defense and sprung loose for a 58-yard touchdown to put the Hornets up 14-0 with 5:04 remaining in the quarter. Estes finished with 118 yards on three grabs.

"Man, he got down the field fast, he's athletic and he's just not used to football yet," Kelley said. "Every rep he gets just gives us another option."

Dean scored from 18 yards out with 3:39 to go in the quarter, cashing in on senior middle linebacker Kobe Kaminski's interception to increase Fulton's advantage.

Dean logged his final touchdown - and sixth in the last four quarters - on a 10-yard dash with :49 left in the quarter to make it 27-0.

Masek and junior wide receiver Alec Fleetwood then hooked up on an 8-yard scoring strike on a slant route to extend Fulton's advantage with 6:25 to play in the first half.

Masek hit on 5-of-7 passes for 151 yards and now has five touchdowns in the last two games. He was the Hornets' third-leading rusher with 28 yards on three attempts Friday night.

Colonel sophomore Victor Leon got a turn at quarterback and Fulton senior cornerback Radarion Glover made him pay. Glover picked off a Leon pass and took it 7 yards to the end zone to push the Hornets ahead 41-0.

Glover - who also returned a punt 53 yards for a touchdown against Versailles - had just one touch on offense Friday night.

"He's an athlete, he competes on both sides of the ball and special teams," Kelley said. "It's one of those things where he's going to get his touches, his time will come."

Fulton received rushing touchdowns from senior quarterback Trenton Clines, sophomore running backs Ammod Davis and LeCheyon Williams, sophomore quarterback Tucker Caswell and freshman Dailyn Arney to round out its offense Friday night.

Davis was second on the Hornets with 65 yards on five carries as Fulton combined for 246 yards rushing on 22 carries (11.1 average).

The Hornets open North Central Missouri Conference play this week at Moberly. The Spartans (2-1) blanked Kirksville 16-0 to begin NCMC play Friday night.