Masek, unbeaten Hornets storm past Spartans

Junior QB accounts for four TDs, Fulton rolls in NCMC opener

MOBERLY - Fulton head coach Pat Kelley certainly didn't forget the last time his Hornets escaped Moberly with a win.

A late field goal on a rain-soaked night lifted the Hornets to a 16-13 victory over the Spartans in Oct. 2002.

There were no such dramatics needed for Fulton's latest conquest at Moberly, though. Junior quarterback Devin Masek accounted for four touchdowns and senior running back Travis Dean gained a game-high 195 yards as the Hornets cruised to a 35-6 win over the Spartans in Friday night's North Central Missouri Conference opener.

Fulton, at 4-0, is off to its best start since a 6-0 run to begin the 2007 campaign. The Hornets now own consecutive wins over Moberly (1-3, 1-1) after dropping four straight in the series.

"It's one of those things that you think about," Kelley said. "We knew it was a tough place to play. ... We tried to tell them all week this would be a black-and-blue game, and it was."

The Spartans broke on top Friday night on their second possession when junior quarterback Drake Davidson scored on an 8-yard keeper with 4 minutes, 2 seconds left in the first quarter. After a missed extra point, Fulton found itself trailing for the first time since the closing seconds of the first half against School of the Osage in the season opener.

The Hornets were in a hole for a little less than 3 minutes. Starting from his own 21-yard line, Dean immediately flipped field position for Fulton with a 34-yard burst off the right side on first down. Two plays later, he picked up 18 more yards and followed that with a 5-yard gain to set up Masek's tying touchdown on a 10-yard option keeper.

Sophomore kicker Jacob Kern's extra point gave the Hornets a 7-6 edge with :57 left in the quarter.

"We really got off to a good start; I know they scored first, but we got some field position and then got a penalty, but to their credit, they went in and scored," Kelley said. "But to our kids' credit, we went down and scored, and responded right back."

Fulton turned a Moberly punt after its next offensive series into its second of three straight scoring drives. Dean punctuated the possession when he bowled in on a 2-yard plunge to extend the Hornets' advantage with 9:01 remaining in the half.

After another punt by the Spartans, Fulton traveled 30 yards in eight plays, but faced a third-and-14 from the Moberly 25. It was one of the only opportunities the normally blitz-happy Spartans had to put pressure on Masek.

With the Moberly defense coming, Masek stepped up and placed a 25-yard scoring strike to junior wide receiver Alec Fleetwood to make it 21-6 with 4:27 left, an advantage Fulton took into halftime.

The Hornets looked out of sync for most of the third quarter. Dean fumbled, then recovered, the opening kickoff and Fulton gained just 12 yards before punting.

The Spartans proceeded to travel 64 yards over 14 plays and collected four first downs during the 6:13 drive. On a fourth-and-6 from the Hornets' 11, Moberly junior wide receiver Matt Fulks was all alone in the seam, but Davidson's attempt bounced off Fulks' fingers in the end zone as the Spartans turned the ball over on downs.

"That was a huge play there on fourth down," Kelley said. "That kind of swung it to our side for good."

Fulton made the most of the stop, moving 89 yards in nine plays. Glover grabbed a slant pass from Masek on fourth-and-9 from the Moberly 12, then bounced off a pair of Spartan defenders before crossing the goal line for the touchdown.

The play - which gave the Hornets a 28-6 edge with 10:48 to play in the game - was Kelley's favorite of the night.

"It was still relatively close and fourth-and-9, and we got ourselves in trouble and (Masek) stepped up and threaded it, and of course (Glover) made a great run after the catch," Kelley said.

Masek closed out Fulton's scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run with 8:03 left. Masek rushed for 44 yards on nine carries and hit on 10-of-16 passes for 111 yards.

"It always makes you nervous, because he's not the biggest kid in the world," Kelley said. "But he's got such quickness and great vision, and there were a couple of times there where he pulled (the ball) out and just went, and that confused them.

"He ran the ball well, he threw the ball well, he read coverage - he did a nice job for us."

Fulton ran 43 times for 277 yards as a team, finishing with 388 yards of total offense. The Hornets' defense - fresh off a 69-0 shutout last week against the Missouri Military Academy - was stout again, holding the Spartans to 234 yards of offense and 10 first downs.

The Fulton defense failed to register a sack or turnover for the first time this season. That said, the Hornets have only allowed 49 points through four games.

"For the most part, we won third down all night, which was huge," Kelley said. "They might get a first (down), but we clamped down after that. Like I said, it's hard to get anything going when you're not winning them on offense and we were winning them on defense."

The Hornets host Marshall in an NCMC matchup this week. The Owls (1-3, 1-1) picked up their first win of the season Friday night, downing Kirksville in a 28-12 conference triumph in Marshall.