Countdown to kickoff: Pirates ready to ‘make a path for ourselves’ with array of talent

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HANNIBAL, Mo. — No Aneyas Williams, no problem.

This is the prevailing attitude within the Hannibal football program.

“With Aneyas or without Aneyas, we’re still going to win,” senior running back Mike Ferreira said.

As Williams, who rushed for 4,255 yards and racked up 3,249 receiving yards in his storied Hannibal career, begins his freshman season at the University of Notre Dame, the stage is set for Ferreira and a host of others to step into the spotlight.

“It was great to have Aneyas, but I feel like this is the new generation, so we have to make a path for ourselves,” Ferreira said.

Ferreira imposes will with physicality

Despite the gaudy numbers Williams accumulated as a Pirate, he wasn’t even the team’s leading rusher in 2023.

Ferreira was.

Ferreira rushed for 1,817 yards and 18 touchdowns on 257 carries as a junior, and Pirates coach Jeff Gschwender expects Ferreira to shoulder a similar if not heavier load in 2024.

“He’s no stranger to carrying the football,” Gschwender said. “Of course, it helps when you have Aneyas on the field and there are a lot of eyes on him, and (Ferreira) knows that. He knows that the eyes are going to be on him this year. It’s not going to be just ‘Where’s Aneyas at?’ It’s going to be ‘We need to stop Mike.’ He understands that. He loves that challenge.”

A physical, downhill runner, Ferreira is not afraid of contact. 

In fact, he welcomes it.

“Once you hit someone so much, they can’t keep consistently taking a hit every play,” Ferreira said. “If I just keep on hitting them, they’re not going to want to hit me anymore.”

Defenders will have an even tougher time even getting a hand on Ferreira if his focus on improving his speed and agility comes to pass. Senior quarterback Waylon Anders has already noticed a difference.

“He’s gotten a lot shiftier,” Anders said.

This is a scary proposition for opposing defenses.

“He’s had his best offseason yet,” Gschwender said of Ferreira. “He’s ready to go. He loves good, physical, competitive practices. That just sets up for that workhorse ball carrier that we like.”

Anders’ experience helps offense thrive

As a sophomore in 2022, Anders had some rather large shoes to fill. That season, Anders earned the Pirates’ starting quarterback job, taking the reins from first team all-state honoree Courtland Watson, who guided the Pirates to a second place finish in Class 4 during his 2021 senior season.

The shoe fit quite well.

Anders quarterbacked the Pirates to a Class 4 District 5 championship and a 9-3 record. He backed that up with 25 touchdowns to just four interceptions, an 11-2 record, another district title, and a state quarterfinal appearance in 2023.

Anders said the instant support from Williams, who has become one of Anders’ closest friends, gave him the confidence to take his opportunity by the horns.

“He kind of took me under his wing,” Anders said. “He believed in me that I was going to be the guy, and he showed me. He put a lot of trust in me, so that gave me a lot of confidence to take the job.”

Now that job is secure, and Gschwender can count on Anders to make quick, intuitive decisions.

“He’s been one of the best decision makers as far as playing quarterback and managing a game as I’ve ever coached,” Gschwender said. “He’s a coach on the field. He can come back to the sideline or come in at halftime and tell you what he’s seeing from the safeties, from the coverage, from the linebackers.”

When it comes to reading defenses and evaluating what they see, Anders and Gschwender are one and the same.

“Coach G and I are always on the same page,” Anders said. “If he’s seeing something, I’m seeing something. It’s all together. He trusts me and I trust him.”

Anders will trust the likes of Karter Reed, Ben Worthington and Reid Holliday to catch his passes.

“We don’t necessarily have dudes that can just burn down the field, but they’re extremely good route runners,” Gschwender said.

On top of that, they are excellent blockers in the run game.

“They’re really good stalk blockers,” Gschwender said. “With our style of offense, one of the biggest things we look at is how well they block out there on the edge.”

Reed, at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, primarily played tight end last season, but the Pirates will expand his role in the pass-catching side of the offense by lining him up at wide receiver.

“I’ve got full confidence in him that he’s going to go up and catch the ball,” Anders said.

Hoskins continues to wreak havoc

“He’s a big ol boy” were the words Gschwender used to describe 6-foot-5, 270-pound junior defensive end Tre Hoskins.

“He is a load to handle,” Gschwender said.

Hoskins also runs the 40-yard dash in 4.81 seconds.

“He can flat out play,” Gschwender said.

In 2023, Hoskins was the Pirates’ second leading tackler with 57, recorded 19.5 tackles for loss, registered eight sacks and recovered five fumbles.

“I just attack the tackle most of the time and just drive him back,” Hoskins said.  “My best (pass rush move) is probably my bull rush, but I’ve got some sub moves off of that that I can use.”

If Hoskins driving an offensive lineman back and hunting down opposing quarterbacks isn’t frightening enough, he also gets to catch the ball on offense as a tight end.

“(Last year) we started to do more double tight end stuff on offense,” Gschwender said. “He uses his hands really well, he can catch the ball. He’s a playmaker.”

Hoskins’ two-way capabilities beg the question: What’s more intimidating — staring Hoskins down as he prepares to deliver a blistering hit or trying to tackle him when he has the ball in his hands?

Hoskins has his answer.

“Probably me running at you trying to tackle you,” Hoskins said. “I feel like that would be scary.”

As for his favorite of the two positions, Hoskins didn’t hesitate with his response.

“I like getting after the quarterback,” Hoskins said.

Hoskins will have a linebacking corps led by Dylan Bock and Kaisen McAfee to back him up.

“It’s nice having those guys because if there’s a play I maybe can’t quite get to, I can still try and they’re going to be backing me up if I don’t get there,” Hoskins said.

Bock, a first team All-North Central Missouri Conference selection in 2023, is the quarterback of the Pirates’ defense.

“He’s a student of the game,” Gschwender said. “He understands how to read an offensive line. He understands formations and tendencies. He really prepares himself to be able to read and recognize those things. Whether it’s formation tendencies or situational tendencies, he just knows how to read things and what to look for. He’s also a solid, sure tackler.”

McAfee, who secured second team all-conference honors as a sophomore last season, has earned the moniker “freak athlete” from Gschwender.

“He’s big, strong, quick, and athletic,” Gschwender said. “He can run sideline to sideline. He just plays on reaction. He is getting smarter and better. He has a year under his belt now, so things are slowing down a lot for him. He’s understanding the defense a lot better.”

First game to provide measuring stick

Hannibal will have no cupcake in Week One.

The Pirates will welcome Jefferson City Helias to Porter Stadium. The Crusaders handed Hannibal its only 2023 regular season loss in a 49-13 drubbing on the road.

“I think we were going in thinking we were better than everyone else, and that game was kind of a wake-up call,” Hoskins said.

The Pirates showed resolve by rattling off 11 straight wins before losing 70-61 to Lutheran North in the state quarterfinals.

“We didn’t play well at all (against Helias), but we turned it around,” Anders said. “After that, we just progressed. That’s what Hannibal football does. No matter how bad a game could be, we’re not going to get down on ourselves, and we’re going to find ways to win. That’s how this program has always been.”

Gschwender welcomes the challenge of facing a program that has won double-digit games in five of the last 12 seasons.

“We love having that game against Helias first because one way or another, we always know they’re so well coached,” Gschwender said. “They know how to attack our weaknesses. It’s a good eye opener for what we need to work on and what we do well.””

Except for 2020, the Pirates and Crusaders have gone to battle in Week One of every season since 2016. Hannibal won in 2016 and 2017, but Helias has won four of the last five matchups.

“There’s always a lot of hype,” Gschwender said. “It kicks off the football season with a lot of excitement. It’s a good team for them and for us. They enjoy playing us that first game, too. It’s a nice little rivalry for us.”