The element of surprise.
With some new offensive fronts and an unexpected quarterback, that's what Fulton head coach Trey Barrow hoped he'd strike the Southern Boone Eagles with in the Hornets' home opener.
But then a funny thing happened - lightning struck. Quite literally.
Friday night's home opener was delayed nearly an hour due to nearby thunderstorms. Unfortunately for Fulton, it was the Southern Boone offense that wound up lighting up the sky after the stoppage as the Eagles cruised to a 54-7 rout of the Hornets at Robert E. Fisher Jr. Stadium.
Barrow installed a two-tight end formation and senior wide receiver Garrett Johnson as his "break glass in case of emergency" quarterback earlier in the week. Emergency struck when all three Fulton quarterbacks - seniors Evan Gray and Tyler Sayler, and freshman Woodrow Foster - were unavailable Friday night, which pulled Johnson away from his outside receiver position and placed him under center.
Johnson's familiarity with the offense meant that Barrow devoted most of his pregame work to tiny intricacies specific to the quarterback position.
"I spent the day going over reads with him - simple things that people wouldn't think about like that mesh with the running back," Barrow said. "If we don't have the ball right, we can fumble it. There are just so many things we tried to throw at him."
Fulton (0-2) ran just two offensive plays before Johnson's first pass attempt sailed into the hands of Southern Boone junior defensive back Tanner Goodrich, who returned it to the Hornets' 33-yard line. The Eagles (2-0) ran one play before the weather delay went into effect less than 2 minutes into the game.
The lightning was an unwelcomed hindrance for both teams, especially a Fulton squad that hoped to catch Southern Boone on its heels.
" We installed double-tight (end formations) on Tuesday hoping to kind of get a couple of drives where they were not expecting us to come out in double-tight," Barrow said. "It was kind of unfortunate that we got three plays in and (Johnson) threw an interception, which was expected. He hadn't had any reps."
The unforeseen delay had the potential to cool both teams off. That wasn't the case for the Eagles, who needed just five plays out of the locker room to grab a lead that was never in any real danger of being taken. Senior running back Colby Phillips put Southern Boone in front with 7:38 left in the first quarter on a 2-yard plunge, the first of his four rushing touchdowns and six scores overall.
The Hornets didn't muster much when they regained possession as the offense registered a quick three-and-out. Senior Justin Leake's punt was downed by senior returner Sam Stichnote, but a delay-of-game infraction negated the kick, pushed Fulton back 15 yards and gave the Eagles another shot.
Stichnote cleanly fielded Leake's next boot, then wove 65 yards through the Hornets' coverage for a touchdown and a 14-0 Eagles lead.
"The first punt was a great punt. The next one, I don't think we're used to running on a field this wet," Barrow said. "One move - one cut - and you're on your back. We have to break down and make gang tackles together."
From there, it became Phillips' show as he had a hand in Southern Boone's next five touchdowns. He scored on runs of 30, 20 and 33 yards, caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Stichnote, and then added an 85-yard kickoff return for a score to start the third quarter.
Phillips - who returned a kick 90 yards for a touchdown against Mexico last week - finished with a game-high 145 yards rushing Friday night. The Eagles carved out just a hair under 10 yards per carry, totalling 279 yards in 28 attempts. Though Phillips stuffed the stat sheet, Barrow complimented Southern Boone's blocking and Stichnote's deft ballhandling in helping Southern Boone get moving.
" Their receivers held their blocks a lot better than any of us thought - our outside linebackers and defensive ends would lose contain a lot," Barrow said. "That quarterback Stichnote would ride the ball and make it look like the running back has it a long time, then pull it.
"And even with our defensive ends playing on the quarterback, he's a gifted kid."
Senior running back Taeon Logan supplied Fulton's only score on a 90-yard kickoff return immediately after Phillips' TD return. After compiling 141 yards rushing and three touchdowns in last week's 42-27 opening loss at Osage, Logan was held to just 48 yards on 15 carries against the Eagles.
As a team, the Hornets logged just 41 yards of total offense.
"We're doing good things, we just need to celebrate the little things we're doing right," Barrow said. "I told the kids not to be negative - it's really hard (not to) in games like this, but there are positives in everything, and I think we will build on this."
Fulton hosts Kirksville this week to begin North Central Missouri Conference play. The Tigers (1-1) shut out Chillicothe 41-0 on Friday night.