Mexico didn’t play its best on Friday night.

The Bulldogs lost 48-0 at Class 4 No. 5 Hannibal (8-2) in the Class 4 District 5 semifinals for the second straight year, falling behind 21-0 at halftime before being shut out for the first time this season. Mexico finished with 113 total yards compared to Hannibal’s 410 yards.

Head coach Steve Haag said Hannibal took an early advantage with a punt return touchdown by Darrion Washington, who also had 153 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, and proceeded to be the good team he expected. Mexico, on the other hand, struggled.

“They did what I thought they were going to do and ran the football well,” Haag said. “We hurt ourselves on that punt return for the first touchdown, we just didn’t seem to be very physical and we turned the ball over. You can’t do those things when you’re playing a team like Hannibal.”

Mexico mostly avoided turnovers this season but had four turnovers against Hannibal. There were mistakes like a turnover on a backwards pass, penalties and other miscues that led to Haag saying it seemed to not be “our night.”

Ayden Geers led Mexico with 36 rushing yards, Connor Fisher had 35 yards and Brysen Hammers had 29 yards.

“Every time we would get something going, we would end up shooting ourselves in the foot,” Haag said.

After beating Kirksville 28-21 in overtime during the previous week at home, Haag pointed out to his players that they clinched a winning season regardless of the result in Hannibal. Mexico’s previous winning season was a 10-3 season in 2021.

Two years ago, Haag said these seniors received playing time as sophomores because they were promising football players and finished 2-8. He said they all have grown into great leaders and this season demonstrates that with wins over Odessa, Kirksville, Southern Boone and yet another 54 Bowl win over Fulton.

“It’s a tough time when you put sophomores on the field, and they learned a lot,” Haag said. “This year, they’re 18 years old and more mature. Their hard work showed to get back to a winning season. Football is one thing, but the one thing I want them to do is be able to look back and say they learned something and had a good time playing.”