Pirates brace for opportunity to experience deja vu and end Warriors’ undefeated season

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Same round, same foes.

For the second straight season, the Hannibal and Warrenton football teams will clash for the district championship.

“We expect to be in this position every year,” Hannibal coach Jeff Gschwender said.

Gschwender and the Pirates hope it’s deja vu all over again. A year ago, Hannibal took a 34-6 lead into halftime and cruised to a 55-32 victory to capture the Class 4 District 4 crown.

Just like in 2023, Warrenton enters the district title game undefeated. The Warriors were 11-0 before last year’s loss, and they are 10-0 as they prepare to host Hannibal at 7 p.m. Friday with the Class 4 District 5 title at stake.

“It for sure gives us confidence knowing that we’re capable of doing it,” Pirates sophomore running back Darrion Washington said of ending Warrenton’s bid for an unbeaten season once again.

Washington helped the Pirates seal a 42-27 victory over Mexico in the district semifinals by rushing for 105 yards on 14 carries. Washington and Landyn Essig combined to fill the void left by starting running back Mike Ferreira, who missed that game for personal reasons. Essig rushed for 125 yards on 20 totes, and both he and Washington played pivotal roles on the Pirates’ game-clinching touchdown drive that took 10 minutes, 29 seconds off the clock and ended in a touchdown run by quarterback Waylon Anders with 1:20 remaining.

“We had two small backs in there, guys that don’t weigh more than 160 pounds, and they’re breaking tackles and carrying guys for those hard four yards that were needed,” Gschwender said. “They knew exactly what was at stake, and that’s get the first downs. They weren’t trying to do anything special or big. They were just hitting their landmarks, taking what was given to them and getting those hard yards after contact. I was extremely proud of that.”

The adaptability Washington and Essig showed in taking on new roles as co-lead backs in that game brought a smile to Gschwender’s face.

“Those are two guys that at the beginning of the year, we’re looking at open space-type guys, playing around with them, getting them on the edge, using them as a pitch man, throwing bubbles to them, quicks to them, screens to them, and they’ve been put in the role the last week of, ‘Now you’ve got to be the dude to carry the rock,’” Gschwender said. “They did an outstanding job.”

With Ferreira’s status uncertain for the Warrenton game, the Pirates will likely need repeat performances from Washington and Essig against a Warrenton team that has scored at least 35 points in each of its last eight games and topped 40 points seven times this season. The Warriors have allowed more than 21 points once all season and held five opponents to seven points or fewer.

“They’re extremely athletic,” Gschwender said of Warrenton. “They’re a big play-type team. They’re a team that doesn’t necessarily want to put together 15-play drives for a touchdown. They’re a little impatient, and they want to hit a big play. They have no problem firing the ball down the field or looking for a huge play at any given time in any situation.”

The Pirates will have to contend with Warrenton senior running back Austin Haas, who has rushed for 1,880 yards and 25 touchdowns. Quarterback Brandon Johnson has completed 56.5 of his 147 passing attempts for 1,625 yards and 15 touchdowns and is averaging 19.6 yards per completion. Three different Warriors receivers — Mason Thompson, Peyton Dawson and Austin White — have eclipsed 300 receiving yards. Thompson and White have combined for 10 receiving touchdowns.

Gschwender said the Warriors’ explosiveness poses challenges, but not ones the Pirates are not equipped to handle.

“You have to stay on top of the routes. You can’t get comfortable with anything,” Gschwender said. “Our front guys and our box, they have to be ready to stop the run and attack the quarterbacks. Our corners and safeties have to make sure they know these routes that are being run. It’s just a case of making sure we’re using our technique. It’s nothing crazy special or weird that they do, they’re just a lot of really good athletes doing what they do.”

Anders said the Warriors’ aggressive style carries over to the defensive side, as well.

“They send a lot of guys just like Mexico,” Anders said. “They run a decent amount of fronts. Anytime you get this deep in the playoffs, every team is going to be good. They’ve got some great players, and their record definitely shows it. We’re going to have to play our best game.”

Anders handled the Bulldogs’ pressure by completing 5 of 6 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, giving him a Hannibal-record 297 career completions, two more than Courtland Watson. Two more touchdowns would put Anders in a tie with Watson for the career record of 65. Anders also stands just 365 yards shy of Watson’s record of 4,825 career passing yards.

While these records — and near-records — are evidence of Anders’ statistical exploits, they are secondary to the task at hand.

“I would trade all those records to go to state this year,” Anders said. “That’s how I look at it. Those are good things that will last for however long they do, but I’m pretty sure a state title would last a lot longer.”

To reach that mountaintop, the Pirates will have to spoil Warrenton’s perfect season.

Anders remains ultra-confident they can do so.

“My confidence is always high,” Anders said. “It has to be, especially when you’re playing the position I play. If you don’t have confidence, that just brings your whole team down.”

The Pirates’ five-game winning streak and 7-1 record since a 1-2 start has boosted Anders’ confidence even more.

“I think we’re playing some of our best football right now, which is important, always progressing throughout the season,” Anders said. “Starting 1-2 and losing to Kirksville, that hurt. We haven’t had that in the past really. We’ve been able to battle back and get to where we want to go, and that’s back to a district championship.”