At the start of the third quarter and with tongue firmly in cheek, Fulton Hornets head coach Trey Barrow posed a simple question to Zaylin McNeil.
"I asked him, 'You tired?,' and he says, 'Nope. Give me the ball, coach,'" Barrow said. "That's what he wants."
One wouldn't blame Fulton's lead back for being a little winded. McNeil was in the midst of building a career half that turned into a career night. The senior running back carried the ball 33 times for 377 yards and six touchdowns to help the Hornets slam the Southeast (Kansas City) Knights 62-14 at Robert E. Fisher Stadium on Friday night.
McNeil echoed his coach's sentiments.
"I had so much adrenaline," he said. "I wasn't getting tired with any of my runs, and I was like, 'Keep going!'"
McNeil accounted for 81% of Fulton's season-high 467 yards rushing. All of his numbers were career bests, although the total touches were most telling for a player who never misses an opportunity to petition for more carries.
"Mentally, he's a lot different than last year. He just keeps going," said Barrow, who celebrated his birthday Saturday.
The Hornets (2-5) drove 32 yards in four plays to score on their opening possession. On a fourth-and-9, junior wide receiver AJ Henderson made a shoestring catch of a pass from freshman quarterback Courtland Simmons for a 30-yard touchdown with 7 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
It was the first of seven consecutive Fulton scores on a night where the Hornets crossed the goal line on nine of 11 possessions.
"That first drive we were kind of trying to figure out how to play on that (sloppy) field," Barrow said. "We ran outside stuff just to try and find our footing, and AJ made a great catch on that pass from Courtland, and that sparked everything - from there, we decided to go north and south."
Southeast (0-7) went three-and-out on its next series, then pinned the Hornets on their own 10 after a punt and a block-in-the-back penalty. McNeil accounted for all 90 yards on the drive, logging runs of 18, 12 and 61 yards, respectively, before punctuating the possession with a 2-yard touchdown and a two-point run to push Fulton's lead to 16-0.
Both McNeil and Barrow applauded the play of the Hornets' offensive line, which created sizable holes for all Fulton runners.
"They're tough up front, they know where to go and we're starting to get mentality about ourselves," Barrow said. "We want to be a running football team, so we have to be able to run the ball.
"We like to take shots and we want to be explosive, but when we run the ball, we want to get 4-5 yards a carry."
The Knights trimmed their deficit to 10 points on a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tavion Karim to senior running back Rayford Parks with 3:22 to play in the quarter.
Fulton then responded with McNeil's third scoring run - which also covered 16 yards - to lengthen its lead to 24-6. McNeil tallied his fourth score on a 4-yard run as time expired in the quarter to push the Hornets' edge to 32-6.
Southeast wasn't quite done yet. Junior wide receiver Dremel Jackson took the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, giving Barrow enough ammo to implore his team to finish the game.
"I immediately thought this could turn into a close game again if we don't close this out," Barrow said. "I told the team that we have to finish and have the mentality that - no matter what - the score is 0-0."
Heeding it's coach's words, Fulton logged a five-play, 46-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard McNeil touchdown run to make it 38-14. The Hornets then recovered the onside kick and added to their lead three plays later when McNeil sliced through some arm tackles by the Knights and tiptoed down the sideline for a 50-yard score.
Simmons - who added 86 yards rushing on six runs - added an 18-yard score on Fulton's next drive. McNeil finished his - and the Hornets' - night off with a 2-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter.
Fulton returns to North Central Missouri Conference play this week for the annual Highway 54 Bowl at rival Mexico. The Bulldogs (3-4, 1-3 NCMC) won at Kirksville 34-20 on Friday night.
"I feel like the whole team was on," McNeil said. "If we play like that, no team can stop us - no team can stop us."