Earlier last week, Fulton head coach Pat Kelley said he wanted to slow down Versailles senior quarterback David Connor and for the Hornets' offensive line to play a bigger role in initiating the run game.
Fulton showed it could do just that in its 56-12 obliteration of the Tigers in Friday night's home opener at Robert E. Fisher Jr. Stadium. The Hornets' defense surrendered just 62 total yards and their offensive line was able to create holes for junior running back Ammod Davis, who scored three touchdowns and supplied 155 of the Hornets' 283 yards on the ground.
"We played really hard. Our defense flew to the ball and our offensive line blocked - we were able to get things done," Kelley said. "I just think after a tough loss (28-21 at Osage in season opener), it was a good bounce back."
Kelley believes his players are becoming more comfortable with the new defensive look.
"We're getting used to that scheme (3-3 stack)," Kelley said. "It's a lot of motion, a lot of movement and a lot of trying to cause confusion, and I feel that we got better at that tonight. We gave up 28 points last week, but that was a little misleading; I thought we played really well that game.
"The defense just gave up the trick play and gave up a quarterback sneak on a third-down play. But tonight, we came out and established the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball."
The Hornets (1-1) - winning their eighth straight home game - were able to force three turnovers and seven three-and-outs by Versailles on Friday night, sacked Connor three times and allowed just four first downs.
"(Senior linebacker) Luke Berrey had a real good game tonight, we got a lot of movement out of him. (Junior) LeCheyon Williams had a good game and so did (senior) Will Dunn. Those three linebackers kind of took control of things," Kelley said. "That starts with our guys up front. (Junior) Colton Bristol and (senior) David James started off well and (sophomore) Izak Barnes got a start at nose (tackle).
"We worked (senior) Dustin Lee in and he did fine. We were able to get a lot of guys in and that's what we were going to try to do - roll these guys in, on the defensive side of the ball, so we're fresher on the offensive side of the ball."
That strategy paid dividends. Davis received all of his nine carries in the first half and created a lot of trouble for the Tigers (1-1) on defense.
After punting on their first possession, the Hornets needed only one play their second time out to get on the scoreboard. Davis ran in a 19-yard touchdown with 5 minutes, 48 seconds to go in the first quarter.
"On offense, it took a little bit for us to settle into the game," Kelley said. "But once we did, I think we established a little bit of confidence and we were able to do some successful things."
On Fulton's next possession, senior quarterback Devin Masek capped off a four-play, 45-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Alec Fleetwood with 2:49 left in the quarter. Masek finished 8-of-11 passing for a 145 yards and also connected with junior wide receiver L'Trevion Vaughn for a 39-yard touchdown.
Davis sprinted 77 yards for a touchdown with :54 remaining in the quarter and then scored on a 4-yard run at the 11:54 mark of the second quarter to build the Hornets' advantage to 28-0. Fulton carried a commanding 49-0 advantage into halftime.
"Ammod's got incredible speed," Kelley said. "When he gets out in the open, he's hard to catch. If you control the line of scrimmage, you are generally going to have success."
Kelley noted that the Hornets' running success came from his offensive linemen having more experience.
"I think it was just having a game under their belt. For four of our linemen, their first varsity start was last week. It was the first time they played a full game at the varsity level," Kelley said. "You mature into that and you start looking at what we need to do to get better.
"We told them at the end of the game last week that there were a lot of correctable errors. We went back, looked at tape and corrected those this evening. We wanted to make sure that we were able to come out and get a fast start. We were able to do that and it was nice to see the kids take control and be able to do that."
Fulton will look to build off its first victory when when it plays this week at Father Tolton in Columbia. The Trailblazers (1-1) picked up their first win at home Friday night, 28-14 over Lutheran (St. Charles).
Ryan Shiner can be reached at (573) 826-2423, or by email at [email protected].