VERSAILLES, Mo. - Broc Silvers simply has to think back a year ago to know his Versailles Tigers are going to have to take it up a notch in Week 2 of the 2016 high school football schedule.
Last season the Tigers were coming off a season-opening victory against Knob Noster when they ran head-first into a literal Hornets' nest, being blown out by Fulton 56-22.
Fast-forward to this week, and Versailles is coming off another season-opening win against Knob Noster, 22-6.
And again waiting for the Tigers in Week 2 are the Fulton Hornets.
Versailles travels today to Fulton for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
"They're a good opponent," Tiger head coach Silvers said of Fulton. "They graduated a great senior class that did a really good job last year; they probably played Blair Oaks better than anybody during the playoffs until the semifinals. We'll have our hands full. We've got to play 25, 30 percent better to get the job done this week."
And it will also be an angry bunch of Hornets across the field from the Tigers, as Fulton is coming off a tough 28-21 loss to School of the Osage last week. Fulton was driving for a potential game-tying or game-winning score when an interception in the end zone thwarted things with 30 seconds remaining.
"It was a tough loss, but early in the season it's a little easier to take," said Pat Kelley, in his 19th year as Fulton head coach. "It was good for us, in fact. We're pretty inexperienced in a lot of positions and we needed to see how we're going to compete. And we gave ourselves a chance at the end. We were down 14 points at one point; the kids could have rolled over but they didn't."
For Versailles, the key tonight will be to control Fulton senior quarterback Devin Masek, son of Hornet offensive coordinator Darren Masek.
Devin Masek, who passed for more than 2,000 yards in 2015, completed 25-of-44 passes for 315 yards, two interceptions and three TDs against Osage last week.
He has a pair of rangy targets in the Hornet spread offense with seniors Alec Fleetwood (6-2, 165) and Isaac Franklin (6-2, 174). A week ago Fleetwood had eight receptions for 150 yards while Franklin caught six balls for 82 yards. Also, junior wideout Makygh Galbreath had five catches for 43 yards and a TD.
Leading the Fulton ground game was junior Ammod Davis with 40 yards on 22 attempts.
"Fulton's quarterback is probably the best we'll see all year," Silvers said. "They have great skill kids and a couple of guys they rotate in at running back.
"(Masek) throws the ball well and does a lot of good things. He scrambles really well. Containing him will be a chore."
Junior defensive back Tucker Caswell finished with 10 tackles for the Hornets last week. Fleetwood, a free safety, had seven tackles and an interception and junior linebacker Ben Bader totaled seven tackles.
"We feel good with (last week's) win," Silvers said. "But we've got to get better tackling and have got to be better up front on offense. I think we'll make a big jump from Week 1 to Week 2."
The Tigers finished with 237 yards of total offense last week, led by senior quarterback David Connor, who rushed for 105 yards on 13 carries and completed 7-of-15 passes for 45 yards.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Michael Trotter led the Tigers with eight tackles, while senior linebacker Devin Radcliff added seven.
"They looked very impressive," Kelley said of Versailles. "I was very impressed with their skill kids. Their quarterback played well and their running backs ran hard and ran well. Defensively they're very aggressive; they come after you."
Versailles at Fulton
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