Friday Night Fight: Hannibal vs. Odessa for the District Crown

Porter Stadium in Hannibal is the setting for the Missouri Class 4 District 5 Championship game Friday night. A familiar position for both the Hannibal Pirates and the Odessa Bulldogs. Both of these programs have had sustained success in recent years. Hannibal has played in the District Championship game in nine of the last ten years. Odessa has appeared in five district title games over the last ten seasons. Odessa has moved up from Class 3 to Class 4, and again finds itself playing for a district title.

Porter Stadium - Hannibal, Missouri

The Bulldogs come to Hannibal with a record of 9-1 this season. That one loss was at Mexico 48-43 back in September. The Pirates have had their way with Mexico in recent years, and twice this fall, besting them a week ago 48-0.

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Odessa relies on junior running back Cole Westerhold, junior quarterback Michael Scott and senior wide out Amaury Powell. Westerhold is the workhorse for Odessa out of the backfield, but Scott will throw the ball and spread it around. The Bulldogs offense has several options to turn to, and they aren’t reticent to do so. The Pirates defensive line will want to clog the gaps and contain Westerhold while the defensive backfield aims to lock down Odessa receivers. The Bulldogs aren't senior heavy. They are well balanced.

Kade Hoskins - Hannibal Pirates

The Pirate offense is playing playoff style football. Physical ball control. Junior tailback Darrion Washington has elevated his game on both sides of the ball, while Kade Hoskins continues to deliver heavy contact to opponents, with the ball, or without. Coach Jeff Gschwender has the Pirates hitting their stride at the right time, with Patrick Arthaud, Tre Hoskins, Nic Ferreira and Reid Holliday all playing key roles. Don’t miss this high-profile district championship game, starting with the pregame at 6:30 p.m. on 97.9 KICK-FM