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O'FALLON, Mo. — Francis Howell football coach Aaron Callaway has a running joke with senior backfield standout Damion Donaldson.

"I always tell him he's too big to have breakaway speed," Callaway said.

The 5-foot-9-inch, 200-pounder put an end to that kidding Thursday night.

Donaldson ran for 147 yards and a pair of long touchdown runs to lead the Vikings to a 48-20 win over Fort Zumwalt North in a non-division battle of Gateway Athletic Conference schools in northern O'Fallon.

Howell (1-1) brought out a big-play attack to beat the Panthers (0-2), who were without veteran head coach Joe Bacon. 

"I'm proud of the boys, they've been through a lot," Fort Zumwalt North interim coach Josh Cooper said. "A lot of kids who didn't think they'd be playing varsity football, they hung in there."

Howell won its second successive game against Zumwalt North and has captured six of the last seven meetings.

Donaldson set the tone for the Vikings on the second play of the game when he busted through the line and outran the entire secondary on a 74-yard scoring gallop.

The scintillating run put Howell ahead 7-0 after just 27 seconds.

"My linemen just made the hole, and I got down field," Donaldson said.

As far as his lack of blistering speed, Donaldson enjoys joking with his coach.

"I've got it," Donaldson said. "And he knows it."

Donaldson proved his point again late in the third quarter with a similar scoring jaunt. He smashed up the middle for a 52-yard TD and was barely touched after finding some open green space.

"I was very pleased with the offense," Donaldson said. "We moved very well down the field."

Francis Howell senior quarterback Derek Chupp threw for two scores and ran for another. He guided the offense on three successive scores to begin the second half. The 20-point blitz came in 7 minutes and 22 seconds and essentially put away the game.

Chupp connected with Shake Speckert on a 41-yard fly pattern down the sideline to push the lead to 28-7 just over three minutes into the half. Senior wideout Laquan Whitt rambled 52 yards for a score over three minutes later before Donaldson's final TD run.

"I had time to throw the ball, we had great gaps (from) our offensive line, it was just an all-around great effort on the offensive side," Chupp said.

The Vikings were coming off a painful one-point loss to O'Fallon in their season opener last week. They wasted a two-possession lead before O'Fallon scored on the final play of the contest.

"We didn't come together last week and finish up the way we needed to," Callaway said. "We challenged them during the week and explained that we can be a good team when we do what we're coached to do.

"You saw a different team tonight."

Chupp said he wanted to erase the taste of that setback as quickly as possible.

"It was important to start the game off hot," Chupp said. "It helps the offense and the defense both."

Donaldson said his team had a point to prove.

"People think that since we lost week one, we're going to be a terrible team," Donaldson said. "We're going to keep rolling, we're going to keep winning games."

Francis Howell junior Kyle Bevel capped off the big-play night with an 80-yard TD early in the final stanza. Four of the Vikings' seven scores were of 52 yards or more.

Fort Zumwalt North was coming off a season-opening loss to Pattonville and has lost its first two games for the first time since 2021 and only the third time since 2008.

Senior Nathan Howard ran for a 3-yard score for the Panthers to bring his team to within 28-13 in the third period.