Pirates grind out game-clinching possession to advance to district championship game

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Hannibal High School football fans may hereafter refer to it as “The Drive.”

Taking over at their own 12-yard-line after an interception by linebacker James Wetton with 11:49 remaining and nursing a precarious seven-point lead, the Pirates methodically bled 10 minutes, 29 seconds off the clock with 16 straight running plays.

The tough running of Landyn Essig and Darrion Washington enabled Hannibal to convert on third down four times on the march, which culminated with a 3-yard scoring run by quarterback Waylon Anders with 1:20 left to seal a 42-27 victory over Mexico in a Class 4 District 5 semifinal game Friday night at Dr. E.A. Porter Stadium.

“Just getting the yardage, just keep getting first downs that ate up the clock, that was exactly what we needed to do on that drive,” said Anders, who scored three rushing touchdowns and threw for another to help the Pirates improve to 8-3 with their fifth consecutive win.

“It was a gut check. I tell our guys to keep the confidence up, just play our game and it’ll all work out. It was not a pretty win, but it’s a win, and at this point in the season, we’re playing next Friday.”

Indeed, third-seeded Hannibal will face top-seeded Warrenton – a 42-7 winner over Osage – on the road at 7 p.m. next Friday for the district championship.

Not that the Pirates’ ninth straight victory over Mexico, a North Central Missouri Conference rival, came easy. The game in no way resembled the 40-0 blowout in Week 5, when Hannibal rolled up 429 yards of offense while limiting the Bulldogs to 75.

Mexico fullback Hunter Cuno did not play in that game. After rushing for 120 yards in a 21-14 double-overtime upset of second-seeded Kirksville in the playoff opener, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior bludgeoned the Hannibal defense for 217 yards on 26 carries.

The Bulldogs finished with 325 yards rushing on 53 attempts to continually grind out long drives against a defense that had yielded just 952 yards on the ground through 10 games and had limited each of its seven previous opponents to 18 points or fewer.

“This was the kind of game I was expecting the first time,” Hannibal coach Jeff Gschwender said. “They were missing some players. We happened to get up on them a little bit and they don’t have the type of offense that can crawl back from behind very easily.

“(Cuno) added another dimension. He was nails. He was a beast back there.”

Hannibal marched to the Mexico 13 on its opening possession only to turn the ball over on downs. After Cuno fumbled at his own 34, Anders found Reid Holliday on a crossing pattern from 30 yards out on fourth down to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead.

It was a see-saw affair from there.

Mexico’s Charlie Fisher capped a nine-play drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Then, after mishandling the snap on the extra point try, Kaden Benne scrambled to his right, then his left before hitting Korbyn Dorsey in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead.

They stretched it to 15-7 on Dorsey’s 5-yard sweep around left end four minutes into the second quarter. Hannibal answered less than two minutes later when Anders scored from 4 yards out on a keeper and Essig ran in the two-point try to knot it at 15-15.

Cuno capped another nine-play drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 21-15 after the point-after was missed with 2:58 to go in the first half. Mexico then appeared to have the Pirates stopped and were poised to regain possession.

However, Hannibal went for it on fourth and 4 from its own 47, and Essig burst up the middle and outraced the secondary for a 53-yard touchdown with 1:15 left. His extra point gave the Pirates a 22-21 halftime lead.

“No matter how many plays the other team makes, our guys are ready to respond,” Gschwender said. “They don’t hang their heads. They come right back and make a play.”

That lead didn’t last long.

Cuno’s 49-yard burst up the middle on a dive play to the Pirates’ 7-yard line on the opening play of the second half set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Dorsey to give the Bulldogs the lead at 27-22.

Hannibal stuffed the two-point try, however, and struck back quickly. Washington raced 33 yards on a quick-hitter up the middle to the Mexico 8, and then fought his way into the end zone three plays later to put the Pirates on top 28-27 after their two-point try was unsuccessful.

After the defense forced its only punt, Anders found Washington all alone on a crossing pattern, and he dodged several would-be tacklers for a 44-yard gain before being knocked out of bounds at the 2.

Anders scored on the next play, but Essig’s extra point try bounced off the left upright to leave it at 34-27.

With Cuno steadily gaining chunks of yardage, Mexico drove to the Hannibal 28 as time expired in the third quarter and appeared poised to draw even. But Wetton picked off a pass over the middle from Benne, filling in for the injured Fisher, to give the Pirates the ball one final time.

“That was a great play that we needed,” said Anders, who completed 5 of 6 pass attempts for 98 yards and rushed for another 44. “They were giving us a tough time. They run hard. For our defense to give us a chance to win the game was awesome.”

Hannibal finished with 274 rushing yards and 372 yards of offense overall even though leading rusher Michael Ferreira did not play for what Gschwender called “personal” reasons. Essig (125 yards on 20 carries) and Washington (105 yards on 14 carries) picked up the slack, especially on that final drive.

“It wasn’t a case of needing to put the ball in the end zone,” Gschwender said. “To just get those first downs, that’s all that mattered. You’re up seven and don’t give the ball back. It was big time using up that fourth quarter.”