ASHLAND -- In downpouring rain and the chilliest weather they've played in all year, the Fulton Hornets won by their widest margin this season as all-state forward Jayden Ayers netted six goals Saturday at Southern Boone High School.
"I think the big thing today for us was our big talk was that we needed to come out and be focused the whole game and needed to be locked in," Fulton boys soccer coach Joel Henley said. "I really feel like that's what we did. We, from the beginning, came out, and we were locked in and focused on what we need to do and what we need to accomplish."
Beating them for the third time in as many matches this season, No. 3 seed Fulton defeated Highway 54 rival, the No. 6 seed Mexico Bulldogs, 11-0 in a 40th-minute mercy rule in the Class 2 District 4 opening round.
Scoring eight goals 26 minutes into the match, enough for a mercy rule, Fulton outshot Mexico 27 (18 on goal) to one (one on goal).
"In weather like this, you want to be done as early as you can," Joel Henley said. "I think doing what we did today is exactly what we wanted to do. I didn't really want to have 11 (goals). I told their coach, 'I'm sorry. That's not what we want to do.'
"We want to be at eight and be done. But at the same time, the game just kind of dictated that, that's what happened."
With the weather being a factor, Mexico (6-16-2) goalkeeper Emille Scanavino and its backline couldn't perform as well defensively, allowing Fulton (12-10) to keep peppering shots and scoring flashy goals.
Four minutes into the contest, Fulton's Lane Henley played a long free kick from midfield into Luke Holland, who made a run down the right wing and easily cut through the Bulldogs' defense before scoring.
Keeping it up, all-state midfielder Christian Mahoro netted the Hornets' second goal, receiving a pass inside the box and dribbling past Mexico's defense before slotting his shot to the goalkeeper's right in the seventh minute.
Mahoro turned provider three minutes later. He took a pass from Ben Leslie near midfield and ran up to the goalkeeper before passing it to Ayers, who went past the shot-stopper's left and scored a sweaty goal.
After setting up the assister, Leslie did it himself in the 15th minute. Leslie took a corner from the right side, and it went off a Hornet on the opposite post before reaching Ayers, who scored in the left corner.
Ten seconds after Fulton's last goal, Ayers ran down the right wing and passed it to Parker Tharp on the left wing, and he slotted his shot to the left of the goalkeeper, making it 5-0 Hornets.
As the rain poured down its hardest all game, Mahoro tallied his second goal in the 19th minute, dashing up to the netminder and taking a left-footed shot to the left of him.
Not done yet, Mahoro finished his hat trick six minutes later, sprinting down the right wing and placing a right-footed shot inside the box to the goalkeeper's left.
"Christian, I think the seniors are, are really locked in on that they want to have an opportunity at a second district title in their four years," Joel Henley said. "Today, they showed that they're really gonna be locked in."
Making it two Hornets achieving hat tricks in a minute, Ayers took a long shot from the right side and found the back of the net, giving Fulton an 8-0 advantage.
There may have been two Hornets with hat tricks, but Ayers doubled his goal total for a two-hat trick performance.
For his final three goals, Ayers netted a penalty left corner in the 29th minute, pushed through Mexico's defense on an individual run before taking a shot from the left side of the box and scoring right post in the 32nd minute and dribbled past the Bulldogs backline and scored just before a diving Scanavino in the 34th minute.
"Jayden played a heck of the game today," Henley said. "He came out; he was super focused today and locked in. It's a great game for him, and he did a great job for us today."
Staying idle in the frigid, rainy conditions for most of the match, Noah Cerneka recorded a clean sheet for Fulton.
Warming up Hornets fans, Fulton advanced to its fourth straight district semifinal, ending Mexico's season for the second year in that time. In 2021, the Hornets beat the Bulldogs twice, though Fulton won by two goals (5-3) instead of 11 like Saturday.
Fulton faces host, No. 2 seed Southern Boone (12-9) in the district semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday. The Eagles won the last 14 meetings between the teams, beating the Hornets this season 3-2 on Oct. 12 in Fulton.
Unlike last season when they were the top seed, the Hornets didn't receive a bye. Fulton plays in the district semifinal two days after its previous match compared to four days a season ago.
"I think not having a break could be a big thing for us," Joel Henley said. "I think it'll actually be probably more beneficial, going ahead and having a game than what it would be if we didn't play today. But they're such a good team. We got to be ready for them. We made a couple of mistakes against them the first time we played them, so we got to make sure we fix that on Monday night. Come out and take care of business."