Fulton couldn't avoid the mental mistakes Friday in its 32-22 loss to Moberly.
Both teams were hungry for a win after being winless going into the game, but the Hornets (0-4, 0-2 NCMC) were hurt by 10 penalties that stalled drives and kept Fulton at bay along with the Moberly running attack.
It appeared Fulton was changing its fortunes in the first half - as the Hornets were outscored 98-13 in the first half in their first three games - when junior Dustin Hagens threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to junior Walker Gohring to cap a 12-play, 70-yard drive that made it 6-0 Fulton. Hagens finished with 193 passing yards, going 9-for-27, and with two touchdowns and an interception.
Penalties killed the Hornets as they collected seven, head coach Dana Chambers said, giving Moberly four drives starting in Fulton territory in the first half. The Hornets hung tough on the first one by defending two passes in the end zone to turn the Spartans over on downs, Moberly (1-4, 1-1 NCMC) scored on the next three to take a 19-6 lead.
"Penalties were huge," Chambers said. "You can't have a 1st-and-10, moved back and then it's 1st-and-20, 1st-and-15, whatever it was. Long penalties kill drives. You can't have them."
Senior receiver Brynn Bynum lost a fumble on the first play of a drive to position Moberly at the Fulton 28 on the second scoring drive. A personal foul on a Gohring kickoff return to about midfield moved the ball back before Hagens' interception set up the Spartans at the Fulton 30 for the third one.
The fourth scoring drive for Moberly started at its own 49 and were pushed back by two sacks from senior Curtis Humphreys and freshman Aaron Corey. However, another Hornet personal foul and a pass interference prolonged Moberly's drive, leading to the Spartans fourth rushing touchdown.
Moberly's Derieus Wallace scored two rushing touchdowns and Gabe St. Clair scored another two on the ground in an efficient Spartans offense that converted on 62 percent of it third downs while still being outgained in total offense by Fulton, having 257 yards as opposed to the Hornets' 298.
Fulton had seconds to go in the first half and were pushed back to its own 18 after offsetting penalties. The Hornets pulled a rabbit out of a hat after Hagens completed a pass to Bynum, and as he was being pulled down, Bynum pitched the ball to junior offensive linemen Josh Reams in stride for an 82-yard touchdown to make it 25-14 at halftime. It was just how Fulton drew it up in practice and what the doctor ordered given the situation at that point, Chambers said.
"It's something we've worked on a few weeks in practice," he said. "We kept it for a good time and (assistant coach Jantzen Bradford) called it and it was a great time. We thought it would change the momentum going into the half."
For Fulton's next trick, the Hornets recovered a squib kick and to steal the first drive of the second half. A score looked to be in the near future after a 38-yard pass by Hagens to Bynum to set up a goal-line situation. Moberly wouldn't allow the Hornets to go any further as Fulton turned it over on downs.
Moberly continued to wear down the Fulton defense with several running backs - Chris Alexander and Hunter Boots in the second half - and the Spartans scored on a 13-yard drive when they pulled the string on the Hornets with a 7-yard play action pass from quarterback Collin Huffman to receiver Martez Nabors to make it 32-14 in the fourth quarter.
Fulton showed a little life in the second half with a 15-play 58-yard drive, highlighted by a 28-yard run from Gohring and capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by junior Tyreion Logan - 64 yards on 14 carries.
The Hornets weren't able to make anything of two drives that started on midfield, one on a fumble that was ripped from the Moberly ball carrier, but were hurt by more penalties. One of them was a holding penalty that caused a big gain from Reams on the same scoring play at the end of the first half to be pulled back.
Fulton ended up falling short 32-22 to remain winless, but Chambers would still like the Hornets to stay aggressive and show some of that fight they had in the second half. The team just needs to find that balance of playing with enthusiasm and avoiding penalties, starting next week when the Hornets host their first home game since Week 1 when they face Mexico (4-1, 1-1 NCMC).
"It comes down to fundamentals," he said. "You can still be aggressive and still block while keeping your hands inside. Still be aggressive and come down on a tackle by wrapping people's legs up and not grabbing high on a face mask. You can be aggressive and play football because it's been done."