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Mules run past Farmington into district semis
FARMINGTON — The Poplar Bluff football Mules continued their Road Warriors tour in the 2024 season with a 56-21 trouncing of the Farmington Knights Friday night in the opening weekend of the Class 5 District 1 playoffs.
The Mules improved to 5-5 on the season, with all five of their wins coming on the road, but none of the others were as dominating or decisive of their win at Farmington.
“It went the way I thought it would in the first half,” said Mules head coach Jeff Mannon. “In the second half, we played lights out. I’m dang proud of these kids — they fought their butts off, and everything we’ve been working on has been paying off.”
It was a cold night in Farmington, but both offenses were red hot in the first half, putting up a combined 56 points as Poplar Bluff led at halftime 35-21.
Farmington took the opening kickoff, but the Mules defense held to force a turnover on downs at the Knights’ 44-yard line. The Mules drove for the opening touchdown with a four-yard run from Devin Ferguson.
The Knights responded with their first scoring drive, culminating in a six-yard touchdown run from Kaesen McClain to tie the score at 7-7.
Mules quarterback Jay Edmundson shook off an interception to break a 27-yard scoring run on Poplar Bluff's subsequent possession. The PAT gave Poplar Bluff a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all gas, no brakes.
“It felt great,” Edmundson said about the Mules’ offensive proficiency. “I feel like we finally clicked — we’ve been looking for that all year, and we’re clicking at the right moment.”
Poplar Bluff’s first possession of the second quarter started at its own one-yard line and ended with a screen pass to Xzavir Jones who ran it 53 yards for the Mules’ third touchdown. The kick made it 21-7.
The Mules appeared to have held the Knights on the next possession, but a face mask gave Farmington a first down. The Knights took advantage with a 45-yard touchdown run from quarterback Brett Drye to make the score 21-14.
Poplar Bluff responded with a 24-yard touchdown run from Ferguson, his second score of the half, to extend the Mules’ lead to 28-14.
McClain scored on the Knights’ next possession, closing to 28-21.
But from there, it was all Poplar Bluff.
The Mules took the ensuing kickoff with a return to midfield from Colt Clifford. Hunter Clifford caught a pass down to the Knights’ 21-yard line, then Edmundson hit Logan Slack with a 19-yard touchdown pass to make it 35-21.
With 1:09 left in the half, the Mules gave Farmington a chance to score after a defensive stop with a roughing the passer penalty. Drye hit his receiver in the end zone with no time left, but Farmington caught another flag for a personal foul, negating the touchdown.
With no time left on the clock, the Knights had one more chance to pull within a touchdown, but Drye’s pass was slapped down by a Mules defender, ending the first half.
Mannon told his team to focus on how they prepared during the halftime break to stop Farmington’s potent option offense.
“When you play option football,” he said, “it’s like, ‘Hey, do your job.’ Trust everybody else is going to do their job, focus on the fundamentals, and it was good to go.”
The Mules took the second half kickoff and extended their lead to 42-21 with a 49-yard touchdown strike from Edmundson to a wide-open Slack, who walked untouched into the end zone.
“That was like taking candy from a baby,” Edmundson said. “I just knew I had to put it up for him and let him run under it.”
Said Slack: “When I saw the corner bite down, I just knew I was going to be wide open. I knew there was no high safety, and I just needed to go get the ball.”
Farmington drove the ball down to the Poplar Bluff six-yard line with a third-and-one play for a possible first-and-goal or a score, but Drye fumbled the ball to Mules defender Bryce Dobbs, ending the scoring threat.
Poplar Bluff then drove the ball 93 yards, scoring their seventh touchdown of the night on a 16-yard run by Ferguson, and the Mules led 49-21 with 2:48 left in the third quarter.
“All the team meals, all the practices together, we just really started bonding together,” Ferguson said of the team’s late season success. “It just started clicking, and we all came together as family.”
The Knights moved their next possession into Mules’ territory, but Poplar Bluff’s defense stopped them on a fourth-and-one and took over on offense to end the third quarter up by 28 points.
With the Mules facing third-and-14 after a holding penalty, Edmundson connected with Colt Clifford for a 33-yard conversion that led to a one-yard touchdown run by Alexander Larkin.
Hunter Clifford hit the PAT to make the score 56-21. In doing so, he set a Poplar Bluff record for most PATs in a single game.
Poplar Bluff’s lead with nine minutes left in the fourth resulted in a constantly running clock for the remainder of the game.
Farmington drove one more time deep into Mules’ territory as the clock ran toward zero, but Drye’s last fourth-down pass was intercepted by J.R, Lathon, and the celebration began on the Poplar Bluff sideline and with the Mules' supporters in the bleachers.
Next up for the Mules are the district semifinals against Cape Central, who defeated Webster Groves 42-7. Although Cape beat Poplar Bluff 49-6 in week four, this is a different Mules team, and they’ll be on the road again next Friday.
“I just told the kids, hey, we’re on Redemption Road,” Mannon said. “Nobody’s going to give us a shot to win, so we’ll go out and execute and see what happens.”