C5D1: Poplar Bluff seeks first win in five years vs. Jackson in semifinal

Poplar Bluff football coach David Sievers had whistled an end to practice Wednesday afternoon but the scout-team offense wanted one more shot against the first-team defense.

Following an 0-4 start to their season, the Mules are now having too much fun for it to end now.

“I think they’re in a good place right now,” Sievers said. “A lot of times this time of year kids are looking forward to winter sports, but I think we’re pretty focused right now.”

To earn another week of practice, and a shot at the program’s first district title since 2000, the Mules will have to knock off the four-time defending district champs.

Poplar Bluff (5-5) travels Friday to The Pit to face top-seeded Jackson (6-3) in the district semifinal.

Jackson beat the Mules 35-7 on September 16 as part of Poplar Bluff’s rough start to the season.

“We started 0-4 and this team could have tanked,” Sievers said. “I told them, and it’s no big surprise, one of the things we had issues with was leadership. This bunch has done a really good job of keeping everybody together. Practices have been good.”

The scout-team offense got another play Wednesday and attempted to confuse the defense with a formation only legal in the Canadian Football League. It didn’t work.

Poplar Bluff’s defense is coming off its second shut out of the season and has allowed 18.6 points per game. With the exception of the 35 points scored by Jackson in the first meeting and 48 by Hillsboro at the end of the regular season, the Mules have held everyone else to 12.8 points per game.

Jackson led 14-0 at halftime, scoring at the start of the second quarter and with three minutes left in the half, before three more touchdowns over the final 12 minutes, 14 seconds of the game against Poplar Bluff.

All four touchdowns were scored from inside the 8-yard line.

“We left them on the field way too long,” Sievers said of Jackson’s offense.

Jackson’s Tony Williams ran for a season-high 165 yards and four touchdowns while Adrian Fox also had a season-best 105 rushing yards.

The Mules, who managed just four first downs against Jackson, scored just two offensive touchdowns through their first four games.

Makel McFarland ran for 103 yards in the loss on 16 carries but Poplar Bluff’s lone score was a 78-yard kickoff return by Jais Soto.

“They give you that five-man box and dare you to run the football,” Sievers said. “We’re going to try and run the football but that’s been the plan the last two or three years against them.”

The other semifinal features third-seeded Cape Central at second-seeded Oakville, meaning the Tigers will play at Jackson or host Poplar Bluff either way.

Jackson, which earned a first-round bye as the top seed for the eighth time since 2012, is seeking its seventh district title in that span. Jackson is 13-2 at The Pit in district playoffs under the current format, last losing at home in the 2016 final.

“They’ve lost to three really good teams,” Sievers said. “We’ve lost to some good teams also.”

Jackson’s three losses this season have been against opponents with a combined record of 23-4 while Poplar Bluff’s losses have come against opponents with a combined record of 37-9.

The Mules advanced with a 30-0 win over Fox.

Quarterback Mason West threw for a career-best 326 yards in the win with Chris Matlock catching seven passes for 182 yards. Matlock, Darius Graham and Jeridon Young each caught touchdown passes for the Mules, who had beaten Fox 28-7 just four weeks earlier.

Poplar Bluff was able to overcome two turnovers by forcing three a week after committing a season-worst six turnovers in a loss at state-ranked Hillsboro.

“If we play clean and we don’t do anything to hurt ourselves then it’s going to be a hell of a game,” Sievers said. “But they’re too good of a football team for us to do anything stupid. If we have a bunch of turnovers, a bunch of penalties and stuff that could very easily be our downfall.”

Jackson’s defense has allowed 19.9 points per game while the offense is averaging 42.3 points.

Sievers said whichever team controls the line of scrimmage will have the upper hand.

For the Mules, that means blocking 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive lineman Tony Terry Jr. who has four sacks and is third on the team with 59 tackles.

“The Terry kid is good, he’s a difference maker,” Sievers said.

Junior linebacker Fisher Stevens has seven sacks while senior linebacker leads Jackson in tackles followed by junior linebacker Titus Jackson.

Jackson has won eight straight in the series dating back to the 2017 regular season. The Mules have lost 10 straight at Jackson dating back to a 2009 win with three of those losses ending their season.

This is the eighth time in which Poplar Bluff has reached the district semifinal but the Mules have yet to play in the championship game since the current playoff format, which started in 2012.

Last year, Poplar Bluff lost to Seckman 35-34 in the semifinal as a late comeback ended up a yard short.

Said Sievers, “It’s an opportunity to practice another week.”