Mules return to round of 16 for first time since 2009 with upset of Jackson

This story has been updated.

JACKSON — This time it was the Mules making the big stop on the point-after try.

Poplar Bluff jumped out to a 21-point lead and got a stop on a 2-point attempt when Jackson scored midway through the third quarter with a chance to pull even.

The Mules then held on over the final 17 1/2 minutes to beat Jackson 21-20 in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 semifinal Friday night at The Pit.

“All week long it’s been ‘guys whatever it takes to practice Saturday morning,’” Mules coach David Sievers said. “And we’re practicing Saturday at 8 o’clock.”

Poplar Bluff (6-5) will play at third-seeded Cape Central (8-3), which won at second-seeded Oakville in the other semifinal.

The Tigers won 14-7 at Poplar Bluff on September 9, a week before the Mules lost 35-7 at Jackson to open the season 0-4.

“I’m super excited for the kids because we had every opportunity to lay down,” Sievers said talking about Friday night.

“The second half there, Jackson just kept coming, kept coming, and somehow or another the defense decided that it was time to win it.

“And we did.”

Jackson, the top seed and four-time defending district champion, finished the season 6-4.

“I thought our kids played hard but I don’t think we were really sharp and a lot of that has to do with Poplar Bluff,” Jackson coach Brent Eckley said.

On a warm and windy night at The Pit, the Mules punched their ticket to the district final with a fast start offensively and a thrilling finish defensively.

“Our defense stepped up tonight,” said senior lineman DJ Hubrins.

The Mules stopped Jackson 18 yards short of the goal line with 2:55 to play and made another stop just before the end of the first half at their own 19-yard line.

The game ended with a sack near midfield after the Mules forced a fumble two plays earlier that Jackson recovered but lost precious time with no timeouts to take.

“I was afraid we were going to run out of gas,” Sievers said. “There at the end they just got tough and we made plays when we had to.”

The Mules had been knocked out in the playoffs in the semifinal the previous eight seasons. Last year, Poplar Bluff lost by a point at Seckman when a late comeback ended up a yard short on a two-point attempt.

The Mules flipped the script to advance this year.

Jackson scored on a fourth-down trick play when quarterback Zach Calder took a flea-flicker and threw it 30 yards to Kai Crowe in the end zone, cutting Poplar Bluff’s lead to a point with 5:29 left in the third quarter.

Eckley said the play was added this week in practice.

On the point-after attempt, Poplar Bluff linebackers Logan Hite and Logan Davis were able to get through Jackson’s line and get at the ballcarrier’s feet, tripping him up short of the goal line.

“We hit the hole, side stepped and just stopped him before the end zone,” Davis said of the play call.

“At the time it didn’t seem like that big of a deal but at the end of the game they would have won because of that.”

Poplar Bluff quarterback Mason West threw for 214 yards in the first half, connecting with Jeridon Young for a 30-yard touchdown and a 65-yard touchdown pass to Darius Graham, who set up the drive with an interception.

Atari Amos scored on a 7-yard run and Colten Palma’s third kick put the Mules up 21-0 just 76 seconds into the second quarter.

It was the first touchdown of the season for Amos, who missed the first meeting and five other games with a broken thumb. The senior running back finished 117 yards on 15 carries.

Graham had 123 total yards on three catches and a 17-yard run, Romeoh Wontor had six catches for 58 yards while Young caught four passes for 50 yards.

“We should have scored two or three more touchdowns in the second half but it still got the job done,” Hubrins said.

The Mules were stopped on fourth down at Jackson’s 37-, 33- and 1-yard line in the second half and 19 yards short of the end zone late in the first half.

“Defense played a lot better in the second half than the first,” Eckley said.

Trailing 21-0, Jackson forced a three-and-punt on Poplar Bluff’s fourth possession and put together a six-play scoring drive aided by three penalties on the Mules.

The two teams were flagged a combined 28 times for 240 yards.

Adrian Fox scored on a 9-yard run, getting hit at the goal line as the ball came free after he was ruled in the end zone.

The point-after kick, however, missed wide but Jackson had another scoring chance just before the half with possession of the ball to start the third quarter awaiting.

After reaching the Mules 19-yard line with 34 seconds in the half, Jackson couldn’t complete a pass to the end zone and a holding penalty made two more shots tougher from the 29 as Poplar Bluff defenders deflected the ball away.

“We didn’t throw it quite well enough,” Eckley said of a combined 14 for 38 performance from quarterbacks Fox and Calder.

“That had more to do with Bluff having good athletes dropping eight. When they can drop eight it’s like man (coverage), it’s really tight windows to try to throw into. It makes it difficult for the quarterbacks.”

Jackson opened the second half with a eight-play, 56-yard scoring drive capped by a 2-yard run from Tony Williams. The senior, who ran for a season-high 165 yards and four touchdowns in the first meeting, finished with 96 yards on 20 carries.

Williams jumped into the end zone for a two-point run as Poplar Bluff’s lead was cut to 20-14.

After forcing a three-and-punt, Jackson took over at the Mules 42-yard line and scored five plays later on a fourth-and-8 but couldn’t pull even.

“Our goal-line package has been pretty good for us,” Eckley said. “We weren’t very consistent on it tonight. We were 2 of 3, which was pretty good, but we were in a hole to start with.”

The Mules won at The Pit for the first time in 11 tries dating back to the 2009 regular season. Poplar Bluff had not won a district playoff game here in its previous eight trips dating back to 1996.

The win also snapped an eight-game losing streak against Jackson that dated back to the 2017 season when the Mules won at home and lost to Jackson in triple-overtime in the district semifinal.

“It’s pretty sweet,” said Sievers, a Jackson alum, who won at The Pit as head coach for the first time.

“I told the kids we’re going to practice Saturday morning and we’re going to play the Tigers, somewhere.”

The teams traded punts late in the third quarter before the Mules were stopped on fourth down by an inch at the Jackson 37-yard line.

Again, the Mules forced a three-and-punt and again Jackson stopped the Mules on fourth down, this time at the Jackson 33 with 6:34 to play.

Jackson got to the Mules 18 but three straight incomplete passes gave Poplar Bluff the ball with 2:55 left.

West completed a first-down pass to McFarland before Amos stutter-stepped as he waited for a block and took off. He was finally tripped up 10 yards short of the end zone. The 60-yard run flipped the field but the Mules couldn’t punch it in, turning the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line.

That forced Jackson to use up its timeouts before getting the ball back with 1:14 to play.

Said Sievers, “This is the ultimate of all character builders for our team.”