HANNIBAL - Despite never trailing, it took a while for the Jefferson City Jays to put Hannibal out of reach Friday night.
A fumble recovery with 8:20 remaining gave the Pirates the ball just 49 yards away from potentially tying it.
But the Jays stuffed the Pirates on two straight plays and forced an incomplete pass to get the stop they needed in a 27-12 victory.
"We know the kids have it in them to be very consistent," Jays coach Terry Walker said. "It's just mentally, we've got to continue to develop and continue to improve in areas where you have an opportunity to really put pressure on, whether it be offensively or defensively to really bear down in that instance and put the pressure on.
"Apply the pressure, don't give them an out, don't do something that's going to shift the momentum back over to them, and some of that is just learning how to win."
That three-and-out went from bad to worse for the Pirates after a high snap put the Jays at the 21-yard line.
A 9-yard scramble on third-and-8 for quarterback Cole Gresham, an 8-yard run for Orentheus Pitts and a 2-yard quarterback sneak made it a 27-12 lead with 5:02 remaining.
The Pirates' final two drives ended on their end of the field.
"We always talk about finishing a football game," Walker said. " I know we did many things good and then we'll work to improve on the things we need to improve on."
The Jays took less than 2 minutes to get into the end zone against Hannibal (0-2).
On the third play of the game, Darrell Jones caught an 18-yard pass before Devin White caught a 47-yard touchdown pass in stride in the middle of the field.
Ben Folz made the first of his three extra points for a 7-0 lead at the 10:15 mark.
After the teams traded punts, Hannibal drove 83 yards in 12 plays to cut it to 7-6 early in the second quarter.
Quarterback Courtland Watson's fourth run of the drive went for a 3-yard score.
Jefferson City answered with a five-play, 67-yard touchdown drive for a 14-6 lead with 9:17 remaining before halftime.
Gresham scrambled for 22 yards on the first play, connected with Jake Duke in a roll-out for an 8-yard completion and finished it with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jones.
"I was pleased with the start," Walker said. "Some of the things we're talking about is they have to learn about certain situations where you need to do things.
"It's extremely critical when you're up by one or two scores and the opportunity to put another one on the board. You've got to do that to really exacerbate the pressure on the opposition."
The score didn't change before halftime as the Jays missed a 36-yard field-goal attempt after Jones recovered a fumble at the Hannibal 19.
After that, Hannibal went three-and-out and turned it over on downs while Pirates safety John Clubine intercepted a pair of deep passes.
Jefferson City went up 20-6 with 2:21 left in the third quarter when defensive back Marshaun Dye took a fumble 40 yards to the end zone.
"It looks like their pitch relationship might have been off a little bit," Walker said. "And the pitch caught him up in the chest and fortunately our corner was there playing the pitch and the ball just kind of bounced up to him and we got a free six points."
Hannibal's final score came on its next drive as the Pirates went 82 yards in 15 plays to make the score 20-12 with 8:29 remaining.
Running back Damien French carried it 10 times for 42 yards on the drive, including a 1-yard touchdown.
Jefferson City (1-1) will take on the Hickman Kewpies (1-1), who lost 24-0 on Friday at Helias, next Friday in Columbia.