Williams helps Pirates remain NCMC’s top team after smothering Spartans in state-ranked battle

MOBERLY, Mo. — Aneyas Williams enjoys the spotlight, but he’s happy to share it. 

“That’s what I want to do, do anything I can to help the team win,” the Hannibal senior running back and University of Notre Dame commit said.

If the Hannibal football team can replicate the balance it displayed Friday night, the sky may just be the limit.

The Pirates’ rushing attack of Williams and junior Mike Ferreira and the aerial exploits from junior quarterback Waylon Anders proved too much for Moberly as Hannibal prevailed 28-8 in a battle of state-ranked teams.

Hannibal, ranked sixth in Class 4, extended its winning streak to 15 games in the North Central Missouri Conference. The Pirates (6-1, 4-0 NCMC) clinched at least a share of the NCMC title needing only a win against Marshall next week to clinch the outright conference championship. 

“We kind of knew this was probably going to be for the conference title,” Anders said of facing the previously undefeated Spartans, ranked ninth in Class 3. “It’s a week-by-week mentality, and we can’t take our foot off the gas.”

Hannibal marched right down the field on its opening drive. Williams capped a 12-play, 58-yard possession with a 7-yard touchdown run to give the Pirates a 7-0 advantage. Despite being stopped twice at the Spartans’ 1-yard line prior to the end of the first quarter, Hannibal built a 14-0 lead heading to halftime when Williams found the end zone for a second time on a 6-yard rushing touchdown.

The drive included a 25-yard pass from Anders to senior tight end Kane Wilson who was making his season debut after injuring his knee in a preseason practice. Wilson finished with three receptions for 82 yards.

“It was great to be back with my teammates and my coaches. It’s been long and hard with physical therapy three times a week,” Wilson said. “I felt like I was my old self again.”

Hannibal coach Jeff Gschwender said Wilson’s presence goes beyond the playing field.

“Having Kane not just on the field but around all the time it just brings the energy level up,” Gschwender said. “He’s one of the best leaders we have and when he’s out here making big plays everybody steps up their game a little bit.”

Feeling a need to spread the wealth, and adjusting to Moberly’s attempt at stopping the run by stacking the box, the Pirates largely used Williams as a decoy in the second half. The perennial all-stater didn’t carry the ball once in the final two quarters but did catch two touchdown passes. Williams scored all four Hannibal touchdowns, giving him 125 career TD’s. He had 17 carries for 91 yards and added six receptions for 72 yards.

“We had to do something a little bit different,” Gschwender said. “(Moberly was) really packing the box and we were really having a hard time even getting quick passes off. We had to put double tight out there and put Aneyas out there as a weapon to make sure the safeties stay back and open the box, and we were able to run the ball a little better. On top of that, when they did bring the safeties down we got 1-on-1 with Aneyas.”

Williams had no qualms with the second-half approach.

“Up front they were sending pressure and we made the adjustment at halftime and we did what we could,” Williams said. “It wasn’t our best performance at all, but it got the job done and we move on to next week. We can learn from it.”

Anders made sure he held up his end of the bargain. He wound up 10-of-15 passing for 183 yards. 

“I know I can throw the ball and I know our guys can go get it,” Anders said. “I’m always confident in our passes as long as we’re running the ball as good as we have been.”

Ultimately, Gschwender put faith in his signal caller.

“He’s like having a coach on the field,” Gschwender said. “A lot of the stuff he sees and the plays that are being called is stuff that he’s coming to talk to me about and telling me about. He’s seeing everything correctly. He’s making the right passes and not forcing anything.” 

Ferreira had a workmanlike effort carrying the ball 30 times for 110 yards and also had 30 yards receiving.

Hannibal’s defense bent but hardly broke. Moberly (6-1) scored its only points with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jackson Engel connected with Carter Baughman for a 5-yard touchdown. A successful two-point conversion followed but the outcome was hardly in doubt.

“They’re just getting better and better,” Gschwender said of the Pirates’ defense, which allowed 214 yards. “That last drive I was pretty upset. I felt like we took our foot off the break a little bit after we got up a few scores. We just can’t do that especially against a good team. That’s what’s going to happen.

“We get a couple weeks down the road and we do that it turns out to be a different game. Other than that, I thought they played lights out.”

Hannibal played its closest game since a 34-28 victory over Troy on September 8. The last three contests, in wins over Fulton, Mexico, and Kirksville, the Pirates outscored their opponents 191-13. Friday’s victory, their sixth in a row since an opening night loss at Jefferson City Helias, was far from perfect but a step in the right direction with only two regular season games left before the start to the postseason.

“I was proud our kids made plays whenever we needed to make them on both sides of the ball, but we got to get in the film room. There’s a lot of things to fix,” Gschwender said. “Some of the mistakes we made we just can’t do that kind of stuff, especially this time of the year. It was good for us. We needed this kind of game.”