By the end of the third quarter Friday, it was clear the game between Mexico and Kirksville would come down to who had the ball last.

Mexico fell short 43-42 in the North Central Missouri Conference battle, losing on homecoming despite carrying a 28-14 lead into halftime. Kirksville took advantage of three Mexico turnovers and found spots in the secondary for 388 yards and five touchdown passes from Isaac Danielson – all of them going to Jalen Kent.

Anthony Shivers followed his four-touchdown performance from a week ago with a three-touchdown night Friday, scoring on two receptions that totaled 112 yards out of his 217 yards of total offense and running one in from 17 yards out. Jordan Shelton returned a punt about 50 yards for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass that accounted for 33 of his 93 receiving yards that gave the Bulldogs a 42-36 lead with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Ty Sims completed 13-for-21 of his passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns.

Head coach Steve Haag said Kirksville (4-3, 3-1 NCMC) has a formidable offense that is capable of matching Mexico punch for punch, but mistakes in the game proved costly by the end, including Kent’s game-sealing interception with less than two minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs had a 28-7 lead after Shelton’s punt return score but lost a fumble to give Kirksville the ball back after the Tigers’ offense were forced off the field quickly for the third straight drive, thanks to sacks by Kendyr Taylor and Daunte Cline. Danielson hit Kent on a 50-yard play on the first play from scrimmage to make it 28-14 right before halftime.

“They’re a good football team, and it was a good battle back and forth,” Haag said. “There were some times we made some mistakes that hurt us. That fumble in the first half really hurt us because they scored right after two or three plays later.”

Within a matter of about seven minutes between the first and second quarters, Mexico responded to Kirksville’s first touchdown with four of its own. Much of it can be attributed to the contributions of Shivers and Shelton. Shelton beat a defender for a 37 yard catch that preceded a Shivers rushing score, Shivers ran it down to the three-yard line to set Andrew Runge’s touchdown run, Shivers turned a short Sims pass into points on an 88-yard play, and Shelton took the bounce on a punt into the end zone.

Shelton, in particular, was a tough matchup for Kirksville, Haag said, as Shelton’s athleticism means he has the ability to do many great things on the field.

“He’s a great athlete,” Haag said. “He’s as good, if not better, than everybody on the field. When he can catch the ball, he runs real fast and he jumps real high and he can make plays. That’s valuable on a football field, and it keeps people occupied elsewhere so other people can make plays.”

Kirksville’s offense was clicking again in the third quarter as the Tigers drew within a possession with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Drew Chrisman bounced off multiple Mexico defenders for a 23-yard touchdown run to make it 28-21.

Kent was the player Mexico’s defense struggled with as he seemed to gain yards after every catch he hauled in, finishing with 239 yards on 17 catches with 140 happening after the catch. He took a screen pass nine yards to tie the game at 28 with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter. He burned the Bulldogs again after the catch early in the fourth quarter when he and Danielson connected on a 41-yard score.

“We just didn’t make the tackle, and they were able to run for extra yards, sometimes for a touchdown,” Haag said. “That’s the game. We got to make tackles, and we didn’t.”

Sims’ throws were on target much of the night, especially the float pass. He fluttered a 14-yard score to Shivers before softly shooting one to Shelton for the two-point conversion for a 36-28 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs seemed to have all the momentum with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter when Sims floated a pass to Shelton along the right sideline as he tiptoed into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown and 42-36 lead. Mexico recovered a fumble on the kickoff to keep the ball but couldn’t score.

Danielson’s 15-yard pass tied the game before the two-pointer was good for a 43-42 Kirksville lead with almost five minutes left in the game. Sims went with the fastball on a fourth-down conversion strike to Matt McCurdy and then took a little bit off to Shelton on a play that worked before. This time, Kent was there to make one more big catch for the game-sealing interception.

“The safety was playing over,” Haag said. “I knew that was going to happen and that’s kind of my fault. Safety ran right over there once we threw it, and he made a play on the ball. Jordan’s really good with one guy on him. It’s tough when you got two.

“It was who had the ball last and who didn’t make a mistake. We had an opportunity, and we didn’t make that opportunity happen and they did.”

Mexico (3-4, 2-2 NCMC) visits conference and district foe Moberly (3-4, 1-3 NCMC), who lost 53-7 at Hannibal in Week 7, on Friday.

Girls golf

Mexico’s Rowe going to state second straight year

Monday was familiar territory for Mexico’s Kennedi Rowe and she will be going to a familiar stage soon.

The senior finished 13th after shooting a 98, or 28-over par, in the Class 2 District 2 Tournament at Heritage Hills Golf Course in Moberly to qualify for the Class 2 State Tournament the second straight year. Rowe qualified last year on the same course after finishing ninth.

Rowe tied with Kirksville’s Maya Kaelyn McKiver in the standings and was four strokes ahead of the final qualifier, Palmyra’s Ava Weiman. School of the Osage’s Sophia Ann Rivera-Sindlinger was the state champion after shooting a 74, or four-over par, to lead Osage to the team state title, beating Kirksville by 16 strokes.

Ella Connell and Alexis Henderson tied for Mexico’s next best score at 151, or 81-over par.

Rowe competes in the Class 2 State Tournament on Oct. 17-18 at Silo Ridge Golf and Country Club in Bolivar.

Girls tennis

Gooch faces tough competition, eliminated at sectionals

Katie Gooch was the last Lady Bulldog standing Saturday.

The Mexico junior was defeated in the Class 1 Sectional 4 singles tournament held Ft. Zumwalt South High School in St. Peters, bringing her and Mexico girls tennis’ season to an end. Gooch lost 6-1, 6-0 to Duchesne’s Mary Kathleen Beckemeier.

Head coach Kim Costley said Beckemeier placed second at the Class 1 state tournament last season so it was a tough draw for Gooch.

“Katie has played well the last couple of weeks,” Costley said. “It was a good experience as Katie stated, ‘She has never played anyone like that before.’ She was an exceptional player.”

Volleyball

Mexico loses fifth straight, swept at Warrenton

Mexico continued its skid Monday at Warrenton.

The Lady Bulldogs lost their fifth straight match after being swept by Warrenton with set scores  of 25-20, 25-13 and 25-21. No Mexico player finished with double-digit kills and only one had at least 10 digs.

Jessica Stephens led the team with six kills, Tessa Haefling had a team-high 12 digs and Ally Wilson had a team-best eight assists. Three Lady Bulldogs had one service ace.

Mexico (5-12-1, 3-3 NCMC) hosted Brookfield (1-9) on Tuesday before traveling to North Central Missouri Conference foe Marshall (0-19, 0-7 NCMC) on Thursday.

Boys soccer

Mexico misses back line, loses 8-0 in one half at Fulton

It didn’t take long to notice Mexico’s defense wasn’t at full strength Monday night.

The Bulldogs lost 8-0 at North Central Missouri Conference rival and district foe Fulton (11-5-1, 4-3 NCMC) after one half as the Hornets scored enough to earn the early victory. Mexico (4-12, 1-6 NCMC) allowed 22 shots, and junior goalkeeper Emille Scanavino stopped eight of them. 

Mexico also didn’t have a full roster, particularly back line, as three Bulldog defenders were unavailable Monday, head coach William Gleeson said. Jibran Rodriguez was still away traveling with family, but Mexico knew Bryce Carter would sit after receiving a red card in the previous game at School of the Osage a week ago and found out that day that Hyuriel Garcia was sick. 

“We’re missing a lot of personnel. Three starters on the back line are out,” Gleeson said. “That had a big factor in it.”

Fulton didn’t take long to exploit the new defensive arrangement as Jayden Ayers netted a hat trick in the first 17 minutes of the game. He had his fourth goal within 19 minutes and fifth within 37 minutes. Christian Mahoro added two goals in the 19th and final minute — which was seconds before Luke Holland scored No. 8.

Every time, the Hornets were in one-on-one positions with the keeper Scanavino as he had to force himself into a defensive stance repeatedly. There were sequences where he batted away multiple shots that were seconds apart and also instances where he dove to grab the ball away from the ready foot of a Fulton striker.

Gleeson said the collection of defenders Mexico had available just didn’t have the communication its normal lineup has, so Fulton flew behind the defense consistently.

“It just changes the dynamic,” Gleeson said. “You’ve got other people in there in the mix, and when you’re used to playing with certain people and you know what to expect out of them, it’s pretty big when you’ve got somebody brand new in that spot. They just aren’t quite the same. They could be doing very similar things, it’s just not quite the same as having those other people.”

Mexico wraps up its stretch of six straight state-ranked opponents by losing every one of the games and scoring five goals in that stretch that spans back to Sept. 26. The Bulldogs do have a chance to improve their performance against district opponents this year, going 1-5 so far. 

Mexico hosted Kirksville (3-8-3, 2-5 NCMC) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, looking to avenge a 2-0 loss at the district foe in September, before playing Moberly (2-12-1, 1-6 NCMC), Wright City (10-2-1) and Helias Catholic (4-10) in three of the five remaining games

“We came out flat,” Gleeson said. “We just came out not really working together. Our passes weren’t great tonight. We had a couple chances where we got the ball up there but just couldn’t execute.

“It’s a tough loss, but I told them to just wipe it away. You always have games where nothing’s going to go right for you. We have another tough game (Tuesday) against Kirksville at home so I said, ‘Let’s just focus in on that.’”