West Plains at Bluff

As he answered questions Friday night in Sikeston, Poplar Bluff football coach Shane Kearbey kept spitting like he was trying to get rid of the sour taste of a 34-28 loss.

C.J. Council's game-winning interception return with no time left for Sikeston was hard to swallow for Kearbey and the Mules, but what maybe worse is what's happening around town and on the internet.

People wants to blame Kearbey or the refs for what happened that night but in reality, it's all the fault of Council. He's the one that made a good read on defense, going with Zach Ferguson to the weakside while everybody else headed the other way. He's the one that made a leaping catch, returned it 45 yards and beat everybody to the goal line.

Players make the plays.

"But coaches call the plays and the Mules should have taken a knee," you say.

Why not go for it? Of course there's risk with running a play, but with no risk there can be no reward. Quarterback Todd Bullington threw a 67-yard touchdown pass and another for 50 earlier this season while Ferguson has an 86-yard touchdown run. The previous week, Farmington ran back two interceptions for touchdowns, including one for 45 yards, against the Mules, but Bullington was having a great game against Sikeston. His completion to Ferguson at the end of the first half on fourth-and-10 was as clutch as it gets and he hit the junior again with 12 seconds left for a game-tying 5-yard TD pass.

A win in regulation would mean more than an OT win in terms of the district standings. The Mules were minus-13 in the district points standings so if they score a touchdown on that final play, they pull to within minus-6 or 7, but if they go into overtime and win the best the Mules would do is gain a point, which could be a big difference had West Plains beat Farmington (they were still playing at the time and the last report heard on the sideline was it was a close game).

There seems to have been a miscommunication on the sideline because after the Mules forced Sikeston to punt, about 10 to 15 seconds ticked off the clock before Poplar Bluff called a timeout. Knowing that a few times this season, especially on road games, there has been issues with the coaches' communication equipment cutting out, I asked Kearbey about the delay in calling the timeout and what happened on the final play.

"It is tough you know," he said. "Probably should have let the clock go out and go into overtime but made a mistake and it bit us in the butt."

He didn't blame the equipment, or his assistants, or the players, or the refs -- Poplar Bluff fans were already doing that during and after the game -- he took responsibility as head coach. And he did it just minutes after a tough loss, making sure to do a radio interview as usually, not running away from the questions. (He even refused when I offered to give him some time).

Of course parents and fans will second-guess whatever the coach does or says, it comes with the job, but maybe it's a reason why Poplar Bluff hasn't won a district title since 2000 or why this senior class has played for three different head coaches.

One play does not make a season and it shouldn't define a coach's career.

In this case, it showed how much a coach cares about his players, the guys he works with and the respect he has for the game.

NOTES: The Mules can clinch a playoff spot with a 12-point win and a Sikeston loss to Farmington. If the Mules win by 10 or 11 points, they can still clinch if Sikeston losses by 3 or more points in regulation (OT games count 1 point for or against a team). If the Mules win by 9 or less points and Sikeston losses, West Plains clinches the final playoff spot. … West Plains (2-7) started the season 0-6 before beating defending state champion Waynesville on the road, 35-28, then Sikeston 52-28. … The Zizzers are averaging 28.4 points per game but have given up at least 24 points in each game. … Mules running back Zach Ferguson needs 68 yards to reach 1,000 for the season while Zizzer back Tommy Meyer is 14 yards shy of 1,000 after missing three games. … Poplar Bluff's 17 seniors will be honored before the game.