FULTON, Mo. - The Fulton Hornets' defense will have a sense of déja vu in tonight's North Central Missouri Conference matchup against the state-ranked Hannibal Pirates at Robert E. Fisher Jr. Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Hannibal - ranked No. 4 in Class 4 - has operated the same offense for the past 20 years, according to Fulton head coach Pat Kelley, but it should be a plus for the Hornets they had to defend the same scheme in last week's 26-14 NCMC win at Marshall.
"They're going to line up in that split veer and come right at you," Kelley said. "That's the one good thing about playing Marshall the week before, it does give you a little preparation for Hannibal because a lot of the looks that Marshall gave us are what we are going to see against Hannibal."
Against the Owls' veer option last week, Fulton (3-2, 1-1 NCMC) allowed 240 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
"We didn't have very good gap integrity, especially when a lot of those yards came from a scrambling quarterback (65 yards from junior John Haug), and we have to do better with containing if something breaks down," Kelley said. "Now with Hannibal, if something breaks down where they're passing the ball, we're definitely doing something right because they don't throw a whole lot."
The Hornets are fully aware Hannibal's running attack is powered by Shamar Griffith, a 5-foot-7, 175-pound senior. Griffith gained 184 yards on just 10 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Pirates piled up 471 yards on the ground in shredding Fulton 62-13 last year in Hannibal.
"Griffith is the main one we have to be concerned with - he makes them go," Kelley said. "I know he was hobbled early in the season, but he's a four-year starter at Hannibal. That makes him pretty good.
"(He is) the best running back that we will have seen at this point and maybe the rest of the year."
The Pirates (4-1, 3-0) are coming off a 49-21 NCMC home win against Kirksville last week.
"They'd probably say they hadn't played very well," Kelley said. "They won a close game at Mexico (20-19 on Sept. 9) and Kirksville was pretty close with them at home."
Kelley explained the Hornets need to have a better start tonight than in 2015, when Hannibal broke out for 21 points in the first quarter and built an imposing 56-0 lead by halftime.
"Last year, we came in and we were both undefeated at the time, it was a big game and it didn't go well at all," Kelley said. "We got down early and didn't recover. Going into this game this year, we talked about making sure we get off to a great start and just stay competitive with them."
Kelley also stressed squaring away all details when it comes to the basics will be critical against the Pirates.
"With Hannibal, you want to make sure you do the fundamentals correct," he said. "We have to make sure from an offensive standpoint that we're getting on blocks, staying on blocks. It has to be very precise against a team like Hannibal.
"Defensively, we have to make sure we read our keys, we have to make sure we're in the gaps we need to be in and we have to make sure we wrap up and tackle."
Fulton struggled to run the ball last week against Marshall, accumulating only 72 yards. Meanwhile, senior quarterback Devin Masek threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 1,205 yards and 12 scores on the season.
Hannibal's defense - which alternates between 4-4 and 4-3 alignments - has allowed 21.8 points per game this season, but Kelley believes the Hornets' passing success is definitely on the Pirates' radar.
"I don't know if we'll catch them off guard in anything," Kelley said. "They're an awfully well-coached team. If you look at us on tape, we haven't run the ball well and the passing game has been our success, so I'm sure they're preparing for that. We have to run it well enough to keep them honest."
"They're big up front, their linebackers flow well and they have good guys over the top. You know what you get when you're going to play them - it's a sledgehammer-type of game. That's their style of football and you have to be ready."
Kelley noted his squad is eager to measure itself against the Pirates tonight.
"We're excited about the challenge," he said. "We talked about the fact that when we get to this point in our schedule, we're always playing up. Hannibal's obviously a formidable challenge, but it's also a game where there's no real pressure on us.
"We can go out, play loose, play free and try to make good things happen."
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Preview Podcast: Fulton Hornets Football Podcast [Hannibal preview, Sept. 23, 2016]