Mexico scored with just under 12 minutes left in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead over Hannibal on Friday.

Those would be Mexico’s last points as the Class 4 No. 9 Bulldogs fell 26-14 to Class 4 No. 5 Hannibal to lose their first game in North Central Missouri Conference play and district play. Kade Hoskins ran for three Hannibal touchdowns and 124 yards as the Pirates’ offense resembled its usual self in the second half.

Head coach Steve Haag said there were moments when Mexico (3-2, 1-1 NCMC) came through, scoring on a drive that started from its own 4-yard line after a Hannibal fumble and stopping a Hannibal touchdown near the goal line on a Drew DeMint tackle on the final play of the first half. However, Haag said Mexico couldn’t take advantage enough against perennial conference power Hannibal (4-1, 2-0 NCMC), who has defeated Mexico in 10 straight meetings.

Mexico vs Hannibal Photo Gallery

“It was pretty competitive last year when we played them in Week 11 (in districts) and the same things happened then,” Haag said. “We missed opportunities there, and we missed opportunities here. We had opportunities either to move the ball or score touchdowns or make the play on defense. When you’re playing good teams like this, they’re going to come at you.”

John Kelly recovered a fumble that halted a long Hannibal drive before Mexico marched past midfield the other way. Mexico recovered another Hannibal fumble that started the Bulldogs on Hannibal’s 27-yard line late in the second quarter, but Mexico couldn’t score.

Charlie Fisher led the offense with 74 rushing yards out of Mexico’s total 137 on the ground. This is the first time this season that Mexico couldn’t reach 200 rushing yards.

“When running the football, being in short yardage and being able to get the first down and move the sticks, it’s things that would keep the ball in our hands,” Haag said. “You can call the right play and one person doesn’t make the right block. That’s an opportunity that got missed.”

Haag said he wanted to be like Hannibal when he was hired as the Mexico head coach. The consistent ability “to hammer on people” is what Hannibal does well, and that’s what the Pirates did in the second half as it finished with 374 total yards.

“The last whole quarter was old Hannibal,” Haag said. “I’ve seen that for 25 years. They’re split back, they’re under center, they’re running dive and they’re running veer. Good friend Mark St. Clair, who coached them for 20 years, won 200 games doing that. Jeff (Gschwender) is no different. He knows that so he did that. Credit to him to change your whole format, go back to it and be successful.”

After the first fumble, the Bulldogs executed a reverse to James Matthews but didn’t stop there as he heaved a 40-yard touchdown to Kaden Benne for the first touchdown of the game. Fisher completed a 40-yard pass to Korbyn Dorsey for a first down in an 80-yard drive capped by an 8-yard run by DeMint.

“They play us a certain way; like one of the things they’re going to do is they’re going to play up in our face,” Haag said. “They’re defensive backs are going to play up, and we figured out, if we can get good play action, we can get behind them. I think there were some other opportunities that we had receivers behind them that we could’ve completed because they want to come up and stop the run.”

Mexico lost to Hannibal this time but knows it could face the Pirates in districts. That’s what happened last year, and Haag wants his players to be aware of that.

“I like where we are (in the district),” Haag said. “If we keep winning, we’ll probably stay where we are. If we can continue to have success, we’ll be good.”

Mexico plays at conference rival Fulton (1-4, 0-2 NCMC) at 7 p.m. Friday in the latest edition of the 54 Bowl.