BOONVILLE, Mo. - Junior running back Ammod Davis gave the Fulton Hornets the edge they needed.
After Fulton's defense forced Boonville to punt in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 14-all Friday night, the Hornets took over on their own 24-yard line with 10 minutes, 2 seconds remaining. Two plays later, Davis left a trail of Pirates defenders behind him on a 75-yard touchdown run to put Fulton in front to stay.
On the two-point conversion attempt, senior quarterback Devin Masek connected with junior wide receiver L'Trevion Vaughn in the end zone to put the Hornets up by eight points with 9:10 to play. It would prove to be the difference for Fulton in its 22-20 North Central Missouri Conference victory over Boonville.
"That was a big run for Ammod," Hornets head coach Pat Kelley said. "(He was) able to cut it up (field) and use his speed, and that's one thing I felt we improved on tonight. We rushed the ball much better than we have for the last month."
Davis finished with a team-high 96 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries as the Hornets (4-3, 2-2 NCMC) collected 231 yards on the ground.
"We were just trying to keep our pace," Kelley said. "I feel like we drove the ball up and down the field most of the night, we just didn't score when we had some opportunities."
The last few possessions of the game may have caused a little more excitement than the Hornets wanted. After junior defensive lineman Colton Bristol recovered a fumble at the Fulton 49-yard line to end Boonville's next possession, the Hornets were forced to punt and the Pirates (1-6, 0-4) took over on their own 10 with 7:00 remaining.
Boonville drove down the field and senior quarterback Nick Zeitlow threw his first touchdown pass of the year on a 12-yard toss to junior wide receiver Adam Edler with 2:40 left to cut Fulton's lead to two points.
The Pirates tried to pull even on the two-point conversion attempt by giving the ball to senior running back Keon Johnson, who gained a game-high 186 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Johnson, though, was brought down behind the line of scrimmage by Hornets senior linebacker Will Dunn.
"Will Dunn made a great play on the two-point conversion to scrape in there and get a tackle for a loss," Kelley said.
Boonville lined up for the onside kick, but Fulton recovered the ball on the Pirates' 48 with 2:39 remaining. The Hornets had to punt again and Boonville started its last possession at its own 20 with 1:51 to go.
The Pirates picked up two first downs and ended up facing a fourth-and-4 on their own 48 with 0:47 to play. Zeitlow looked to throw but was chased out of the pocket by Fulton's defensive line. He threw a pass to the middle of the field and the ball fell to the ground around the the Hornets' 30, sealing Fulton's victory.
"On that last drive, we didn't keep tight coverage on their first first down, but right there in the end - when it mattered - we got enough pressure on him (Zeitlow)," Kelley said. "We played great man coverage and didn't leave him anything to throw at. It was a hard-fought game, a heart-pounding kind of game, but I'm proud of my guys hanging in there and just playing tough.
"Boonville's a quality defense and their record is kind of deceiving. They had some awful bad breaks against Kirksville and probably should have won that game. But overall, our kids tugged and chugged and did whatever they needed to pull out a win, and we're proud of them."
The Hornets scored first when Masek threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Alec Fleetwood with 5:15 left in the first half. Masek then connected with sophomore running back Taeon Logan for the two-point conversion.
Boonville answered on its next series when Johnson capped off a four-play drive with a touchdown run from 5 yards out at the 4:06 mark. The Pirates missed the extra-point attempt, leaving Fulton with an 8-6 advantage at halftime.
"I don't know what it was - we would score and then defensively, we'd give up a big play right after," Kelley said.
On the first drive of the third quarter, the Hornets concluded an 11-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run from Davis with 8:03 remaining. Fulton failed on the two-point conversion attempt.
Boonville tied the game on its following possesion on Johnson's 4-yard touchdown run with 5:59 to play in the quarter. The Pirates added the two-point conversion on a pass from Zeitlow to junior running back Ben Eichelberger.
Fulton plays a possible Class 3, District 6 opponent this week when they host NCMC rival Mexico - ranked eighth in Class 3 - in the annual Highway 54 Bowl at Robert E. Fisher Jr. Stadium. The Bulldogs (5-2, 3-1) prevailed in a 25-6 conference victory over Kirksville on Friday night in Mexico.
Blair Oaks (7-0) - ranked second in the state - leads the District 6 standings with 50.39 points. Mexico is second with 46.81 points, while Southern Boone is third (5-2, 38.19) and Fulton is fourth (34.83).
The top four teams get home games for district first-round play Oct. 21.
"We're still young, we're still learning," Kelley said. "But when it mattered, we played hard, played tough and got a win. During this point in the year, you want to get those wins.
"Right now we're sitting fourth in the district and if we keep that, that means week 10 we're at home."