The Chillicothe Hornets football team traveled to Kirksville for a week 2 matchup against the Tigers. Both teams entered the contest 1-0 after resounding victories to open the season.
Chillicothe received the ball initially and picked up one first down before stalling out and punting. Kirksville was pinned in at their 11 yard line but sustained a long drive into Chillicothe territory before being backed up in a 4th and 16. Tigers Quarterback Ryder Lyons found his receiver Cole Kelly who worked up field and reached the first down marker. The very next play Kirksville running back Jace Kent took the ball to the house for a TD. The score was 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The 2nd quarter featured an aerial explosion for the Tigers as Lyons threw for 4 passing TDs in the period to break the game open capping off the half with his final score to Carter Pinkerton coming with just one second left before the break.
Kirksville added to their 35-0 advantage with a 3rd quarter TD from Logan Martin but Chillicothe responded in the 4th quarter with a score. The drive was capped off with a 7 yard run by quarterback Cooper Robinson.
Defensively for Chillicothe some highlight plays included a big red zone stand in which freshman Tyler Lehmann on consecutive plays came up with a tackle for loss followed by a sack to force a turnover on downs, and then the following series linebacker Jack Marshall blitzed up the middle to put a hit on the quarterback as he threw, causing an errant pass that went in the direction of cornerback Oliver Perry who held on through the contact for the interception.
Despite some key plays Kirksville proved to be too dynamic on both sides of the ball and the Class 4 team emerged with a 42-7 victory over Chillicothe. The Tigers move to 2-0 as the Hornets fall to 1-1 and will play at Maryville next Friday night in their first MEC conference game of the season.
