HANNIBAL, Mo. - The Hannibal Pirates scored the first four times they had the football Friday night in a 35-14 win against the Helias Crusaders.
Helias fumbled the ball to Hannibal on the first possession of the game and the Pirates took over at the Crusader 39. Shamar Griffith set the tone for the night, picking up 33 yards on first down, then taking it over from the 6 on the next play. The PAT gave Hannibal a 7-0 lead with 10:34 left in the first quarter.
Hannibal stopped Helias on downs at midfield on the ensuing possession. The Pirates then went 50 yards on 14 plays, the last another 6-yard touchdown run by Griffith, and it was 14-0.
A 53-yard punt on Helias' next drive forced Hannibal to start its next drive at its own 33. But a 39-yard pass on third-and-10 pushed the ball into Helias territory. The Pirates then used seven straight running plays to find the end zone again. Griffith took it over from 3 yards out and it was 21-0 Hannibal with 8:26 left in the first half.
Helias got its lone touchdown of the first half on the ensuing possession. going 65 yards in four plays. Three of the plays were passes, including a 16-yard scoring strike from Alex Faddoul to Dalton Weaver. Sam Heckart booted the PAT as Helias cut the deficit to 21-7.
But Hannibal answered with a four-play scoring drive of its own, this one measuring 73 yards. The touchdown came on a 60-yard run by quarterback Jerry McBride, who shook off a Helias potential tackler in the backfield before breaking away for the score.
Hannibal had 284 total yards in the first half, 221 on the ground. Helias had 182 yards, 115 through the air.
Helias got interceptions from Nolan Sachse and Jordan Kemple in the third quarter, but couldn't convert either into points as Hannibal took the 21-point lead into the final period.
Griffith ran for his fourth touchdown with 3:56 left in the game. His 4-yard run made it 35-7.
Griffth finished with 139 yards on 30 carries. McBride led the Pirates with 171 yards on 16 carries. Hannibal finished with 398 total yards, 327 on the ground.
Helias got its final touchdown of the season with :09.5 left on an 18-yard pass from Faddoul to Nathan Bax. Heckart's PAT made the final 35-14.
Helias finished with 115 rushing yards. Faddoul was 13-of-24 passing for 180 yards.
Helias, which had won eight straight district titles, ends its season at 4-7. Hannibal (11-0) will host Mexico (10-1) in the district title game next Friday.
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