The Kirksville Tigers fought hard against a very good Hannibal team, but fell behind early by twenty points and went on to lose by twenty 45-25 on Homecoming Friday night. The Pirates dominated the line of scrimmage as they built up a 20-0 first quarter lead. The Tigers found the end zone with 1:47 to play in the first on a 42 yard scoring pass from Isaac Danielson to Jalen Kent on fourth down and ten to cut the lead to 20-7. Hannibal scored two quick TD’s early in the 2nd to go up 32-7, but the side of the Kirksville buses says “Fighting Tigers” and KHS did just that beginning midway through the second period. The Tigers capped off a five play 57 yard drive with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Kent with 5:07 to play to make it 32-13. Then Drew Chrisman capped off a masterfully engineered drive with a four yard run on fourth and goal with zeros on the clock and the Tigers trailed by just two scores at halftime 32-19. Kirksville had four chances to score in the second half, but the Pirate defense put an end to all of the threats. The Hannibal pass rush sacked Isaac Danielson four times. Kane Wilson scored two second half touchdowns for Hannibal, one a 20 yard interception return which slammed the door on KHS. Chrisman answered it with a 65 yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage to make it 45-25 but the Tigers would get no closer. The Tigers were pretty much even with the Pirates statistically, accumulating 385 total yards compared to Hannibal’s 406. Chrisman carried the ball 21 times for 190 yards and two TD’s. Danielson finished with 173 passing yards. Aneyas Williams rushed for 228 yards and three scores. The Tigers chose not to give up after falling behind, but three turnovers damaged Kirksville’s hopes, including that pick six.
KHS dips to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the NCMC. Next, it’s a road trip to Mexico Friday for our third homecoming in as many weeks. The Bulldogs hammered Fulton Friday 54-7.