Mexico tried to settle in offensively on Friday night at Moberly but then it fumbled.

Kaden Abel returned the turnover for a touchdown to put Moberly ahead on the third play of the game, and Mexico goes into districts with a five-game losing streak with a 42-0 defeat at Class 4 No. 6 Moberly (8-1). The Bulldogs (3-6) were shut out for the second time this season with the loss to No. 1 seed in their district, and they will go to Kirksville again at 7 p.m. Friday to open the Class 4 District 5 tournament.

Head coach Steve Haag said the fumble was a bad pitch, and the offense couldn’t get going after that.

Mexico at Moberly Photo Gallery

“The other drives were just that we made a few mistakes,” Haag said. “We missed a block here and just didn’t get positive yards. We have to go forward. We can’t go backwards. It’s just not good for us.”

The scoop and score were the only points of the first quarter before Moberly carried a 28-0 lead into halftime. Haag said the field position was in Mexico’s favor early, but it stays that way if the ball moves forward.

Mexico tries to gain a few yards each play, according to Haag, but Moberly kept pushing Mexico back. He said the Bulldogs “couldn’t make that turn” after a solid first quarter.

“I thought we were doing well with what we wanted to do, but sometimes, people want to make bigger plays than they should,” Haag said. “We’re a 3-4 yard team. Sometimes, the running back wants to try to get more. You don’t plow ahead, and you don’t put your shoulder down to get that yardage. I tell the kids, ‘Give me 3-4 yard plays, and we’ll get a first down so we’ll move the chains.’”

Haag said Mexico should’ve done more in the second half because Moberly did what it expected. Kyler Benne led Mexico with 35 rushing yards, Connor Fisher had 32 rushing yards and D’Naz Smith had 31 rushing yards. The Bulldogs rushed for 150 yards while Moberly rushed for 244 yards.

Mexico has faced Moberly every year as former members of the North Central Missouri Conference and future members of the Midland Empire Conference. Haag said Moberly has a lot of seniors and are more experienced than Mexico overall this year. Moberly is averaging the most points per game since 2013 at 35.8 points and allowing the least amount since 2017 at 13 points.

“Their quarterback (junior Jarin Tydings) probably wasn’t supposed to be the starter last year,” Haag said. “They got bigger and got better. We lost some guys we had to replace, and our senior class isn’t as big as theirs. You got 15 seniors, that’s a good group and it’s hard to compete against.”

Kael Smith led Mexico with 12 tackles, and D’Naz Smith, Fisher and Marshall Ball each had seven tackles.

Mexico faces another longtime rival to begin the Class 4 District 5 tournament at 7 p.m. Friday, and it’s also one it faced already this season. The Bulldogs play at Kirksville (2-6) after losing 42-15 in Kirksville this season.

In the first meeting, Mexico lost three fumbles and had two of them returned for touchdowns to put the team in an early hole. The Bulldogs have been doing a better job of holding onto the ball as they had one against Moberly and have had four in the final three weeks following six turnovers in the prior two weeks.

Haag said those turnovers made the difference in the first meeting. He said Mexico has won in Kirksville during districts before after losing in the regular season, as was the case two years ago when Kirksville won the conference.

“Hopefully, we get healthier,” Haag said. “I don’t think they’re world-beaters. I don’t think we played great offensively. We need to go up there and do the things we know we can do to win. We can’t just do it for a drive here and there. We’ve got to be able to do it drive after drive.”