Central tops Poplar Bluff to claim district championship

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Clinging to a slim lead late in the fourth quarter and standing in his own end zone, Cape Central’s Morgan Diamond picked up a fumbled snap, turned and got off a punt with defenders closing in.

The Tigers survived the close call and were able to close out another thrilling win over Poplar Bluff, this time 22-16 to claim the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 title.

“At the end of the day we won a district championship, not without some worts and some flaws,” Central coach Kent Gibbs said.

“Super excited for our kids and all these people that were out here. Just an awesome feeling.”

Diamond scored the go-ahead touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter after Zai’Aire Thomas, who scored twice in the first half, set it up with a long run.

From a two-win season to the state quarterfinals, the Tigers completed an historic turnaround.

Cape Central (9-3), which won its 18th district title and first since 2016, will face the District 2 winner MICDS next week. The second-seeded Rams (11-1) beat Eureka 34-14 on Friday night.

With their seventh straight win, the Tigers advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.

The Mules, meanwhile, couldn’t complete a second comeback after falling behind early and taking a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.

“Every time we got a little momentum we gave it away,” Poplar Bluff David Sievers said.

Makel McFarland put the Mules in front 16-14 on a 59-yard touchdown run with 9:56 left in the third quarter.

The Mules, however, managed just one first down after that and it came on a penalty.

Poplar Bluff finished the season 6-6 after starting 0-4 that included a 14-7 loss to the Tigers.

“For whatever reason, it just wasn’t meant to be,” Sievers said.

Central’s go-ahead scoring drive took 11 plays and 80 yards. Thomas flipped the field with a 25-yard run and got just enough for a first down on third-and-3 at the Mules 21. But the sophomore was hurt two plays later and Central faced a third-and-1 when the Mules jumped.

Diamond then pulled the handoff and took it to the end zone himself for a 4-yard score.

Marquel Murray caught a pass from Diamond on the two-point attempt to put the Tigers up 22-16.

Following the escape act by Diamond to get the punt off with 4:50 to play, the Mules took over at the Central 38-yard line but consecutive holding penalties knocked the Mules back.

Poplar Bluff finished with nine penalties for 94 yards while the Tigers drew just two flags for 20 yards.

On fourth down, the Mules fumbled the snap and Central took over on Poplar Bluff’s 25-yard line, running out the final 3:04.

Thomas ran for 168 yards on 20 carries to lead the Tigers while Diamond ran for 64 yards and threw for 20 more on 4 of 9 passes.

Diamond also intercepted a pass along with Marshon Edwards.

Gibbs said Diamond broke his hand earlier in the season and showed up to practice the day of an operation to put pins in it. He started that week and didn’t miss a game all season.

Getting the punt away from their own end zone was “a momentum changer,” Gibbs said, adding, “He ended up getting a decent punt, didn’t give them field position on the 20-yard line.”

Poplar Bluff forced a safety in the final minute of the half after getting stopped on the 1-yard line and instead of being tied at the break, Central led 14-9.

“All credit to Cape,” Sievers said. “What they do on defense is tough. We didn’t get the big blocks when we needed to.”

Poplar Bluff’s offense, which finished with 400-plus total yards the previous two games to reach the final, managed just 155 against the Tigers, 54 fewer than the first meeting.

The result was the same.

“They throw some wrinkles at you and we didn’t play real well,” Sievers said. “We were a little overly aggressive on the line of scrimmage sometimes I think. They were running around us a little bit.”

McFarland ran for 74 yards on six carries, the majority on his touchdown run, while Logan Hite added 44 yards and a 15-yard touchdown. Atari Amos ran eight times for 26 yards after rushing for 131 against the Tigers last year and a season-high 117 last week.

Poplar Bluff quarterback Mason West completed 7 of 19 passes for 37 yards, three to Romeoh Wontor for 21 yards.

“We played really well defensively,” Gibbs said.

From a warm semifinal the previous week, to a cold and windy Friday night, both teams scored their first touchdowns with short drives after the other punted into the wind.

Central forced a three-and-punt to start the game and took over at the Poplar Bluff 41-yard line. Six plays later on a fourth-and-1, Thomas took a backwards pass from Diamond, made a defender miss and scored on a 4-yard run.

The Tigers threatened to add onto their lead with an eight-play drive that ended on a fourth-and-goal from the 3. This time the backwards pass to Thomas ended up on the turf and he was able to recover it for a 16-yard loss.

After the teams traded three-and-punts, Central punted into the wind and the Mules took over at the Tigers 41-yard line.

On a fourth-and-4, the Mules came out in a different formation and Hite took the handoff 10 yards. He ran three more times to finish the drive on a 15-yard run.

Poplar Bluff tied it at 7-all with 5:16 left in the half.

On the next snap, Thomas bounced out to the right side, got to the sideline and scored on a 79-yard run as the Tigers retook the lead after just 25 seconds.

Thomas had 113 yards rushing on 10 carries by halftime after running for 152 yards and two touchdowns in the previous meeting.

Edwards intercepted a pass but the Tigers were forced the punt, again into the wind, but the snap sailed over Diamond’s head and the Mules took over at the Central 6-yard line.

Hite was stopped a yard short of the goal line on fourth down but the junior was among the tacklers that forced a safety two plays later.

The Mules, who cut Central’s lead to 14-9, got the ball back with 36 seconds left in the half with two timeouts at the Tigers 42-yard line.

Diamond intercepted a pass at the 35 to end the half.

The Mules also had a drive stopped on fourth down at the Central 33-yard line late in the first quarter. Poplar Bluff was forced to punt but it hit a Central player and recovered by McFarland at the Tigers 44. Amos ran for a first down but consecutive passes fell incomplete to end the drive.

“We just couldn’t get into a flow,” Sievers said.