Pirates rumble toward showdown with Spartans by dismantling another NCMC foe

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Another Friday night, another one-sided Hannibal football victory.

The Pirates’ latest win, a 53-0 shellacking of Kirksville, was Hannibal’s fifth straight and played out in front of about 1,200 fans at Porter Stadium.

Hannibal has outscored its last three opponents 191-13. All three games have been finished with a running clock in the third and fourth quarters.

Aneyas Williams scored five of Hannibal’s eight touchdowns while enhancing his standing among some of the state’s all-time offensive threats. Williams’ running mate in the Pirates’ backfield, Mike Ferreira, scored Hannibal’s other three touchdowns and led all ball carriers with 122 yards rushing in a little more than two quarters’ worth of duty.

Ferriera said overconfidence is never a problem for Hannibal. 

“We just try to stay humble,” Ferriera said. “We weren’t looking (past Kirksville), we just try and go week to week.”

It would have been easy for Hannibal, now 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the North Central Missouri Conference, to be looking down the road to next Friday’s game at Moberly. The Hannibal-Moberly winner will likely win the NCMC title. 

Moberly downed Marshall 36-14 Friday night to remain unbeaten, both overall (6-0) and in the NCMC (3-0). Moberly is the only NCMC opponent to defeat Hannibal in the Pirates’ last 29 league games, earning a 14-13 victory in 2020.

Hannibal coach Jeff Gschwender is proud of that kind of consistency in the Pirates’ program.

“We’re a week-to-week team, and we know we always have a target on our back,” said Gschwender, whose club beat Kirksville (2-4, 1-2 NCMC) for a 25th consecutive time and now leads the series 58-11-1.

Gschwender’s words are accented by the reality of Hannibal seeking a third straight NCMC championship for a fourth time since 2000. That kind of consistency — and success — can make opponents envious. Gschwender knows that, and so do his players.

Pirates quarterback Waylon Anders, who put together another workmanlike effort by passing for 144 yards and two touchdowns, echoed his coach’s thoughts on why it is important to have that week-to-week grind of a mindset. 

There are no off weeks if you wear a Hannibal uniform in the NCMC. Hannibal is the opponent circled on all opposing calendars.

“You just have to work to be ready,” Anders said. “You have to be ready to work each week.”

Anders, a junior, has 31 career touchdown passes, the No. 2 all-time total at Hannibal. Courtland Watson, who led the Pirates to the Class 4 state runner-up finish in 2021, graduated with 65.

Williams’ five touchdowns upped his season total to 19, which translates into 114 points. The senior all-purpose back is the only player in Hannibal history with four seasons of at least 100 points.

Williams, who scored on runs of 38, 21 and 24 yards and receptions of 19 and 22 yards, now has 121 touchdowns for his career. That’s the fourth most in state history. He’s eight away from the No. 3 position.

Williams’ career scoring total is now 767 points, also fourth all-time in state history. The No. 3 position is 884.

Williams scored all five of his touchdowns Friday night in the first half, leading Hannibal to a 47-0 lead at the break.

Williams touched the ball seven times on offense, and scored on all but two of those opportunities. He ran through some gaping holes in the Kirksville defense.

“Our offensive line was just great — again,” said Anders, who also benefited from outstanding protection on all 10 of his pass attempts.

Ferreira also praised the work of his blockers for his big night, which was punctuated by a 51-yard scoring run late in the first half. His other scores came on runs of 5 and 3 yards.

Ferreira’s eyes lit up when asked what the highlight of the game was for him. He immediately pointed to the 51-yard run. That was a big chunk of yardage added to his ultimate goal.

“My goal is to get to 1,000 yards … plus,” said Ferriera, who has a minimum of four games remaining to gain less than 200 yards.

The Hannibal offense was not the only unit that clicked against Kirksville. 

Defensively, Hannibal held Kirksville to minus-24 yards rushing and 84 net yards of offense. Hannibal had 410 yards of total offense.

Lineman Tre Hoskins (8) and linebackers Kaisen McAfee (6) and Dylan Bock (6) were the top tacklers for the Hannibal defense.

“I felt we executed about as well as we could have tonight,” Gschwender said.