Jackson dispatches Mules

~ The Indians improved to 7-0 with their 35-21 victory over Poplar Bluff.

JACKSON -- Jackson senior Adam Collier does not get many opportunities to score a touchdown.

Hardly any because he's a defensive lineman.

But the 5-foot-8, 240-pound, three-year starter got his first varsity touchdown Friday when he took the football out of Poplar Bluff running back Zach Ferguson's hands in a crowd of tacklers and dashed 53-yards untouched for a touchdown.

"I used to run the ball when I was littler and I always tell the coach 'I should run the ball. I wear No. 35 and everything,'" Collier said. "So yeah, it was pretty exciting.

Poplar Bluff's Colby Geringer pulled Jackson's Jamie Schumacher out of bounds during the second quarter Friday in Jackson. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

"I came off and I felt like I ran a marathon. I had to come out for two plays on defense to catch my breath."

Collier's score was one of five touchdowns Jackson scored in the first half, including three touchdown passes from quarterback Marcus Harris to wide receiver Matt Lang.

From there, the Indians held on. They were shut out in the second half, but were able to come away with the 35-21 win, clinching the SEMO North Division title.

Collier was happy his team earned some revenge over Poplar Bluff after losing to the Mules by seven points last season, but he was most excited about robbing Ferguson.

"It was just one of those tackles where everybody is standing up and he just had that football in his right hand and I just came in and stripped it right out," Collier said. "And what happened was everybody thought he had the ball and so while everybody was tackling him, I was running."

Jackson's Cody Randen got tackled by Poplar Bluff's Ben Knuckles on Friday.

Jackson scored early and often in the first half.

The Indians recovered a fumble just 1 minute, 15 seconds in the game and scored five plays later when Harris found Lang for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The extra point conversion was no good and the Indians led 6-0.

"We got the opportunity to pass the ball and luckily enough we just capitalized," Harris said. "Matt made some great catches."

Poplar Bluff answered 1:59 later on a 30 yard-touchdown run by Ferguson. The kick attempt was no good, knotting the score at 6-6.

Jackson took the lead when Harris again connected with Lang. This time it was a 32-yard scoring strike with 1:37 left in the first quarter. A successful 2-point conversion gave Jackson a 14-6 advantage.

Collier recovered the Poplar Bluff fumble and ran it back for his touchdown with 4 seconds left in the first quarter, pushing the Indians' lead to 21-6.

Jackson tailback Adam Zweigart extended the Indians' lead to 28-6 when he dashed 70 yards for a touchdown at 9:07 of the second quarter.

Poplar Bluff didn't quit when the Mules scored 24 second later on Ferguson's 65-yard run for a touchdown. The Mules completed a 2-point conversion to make it 28-14.

Harris and Lang connected again, this time on a 6-yard pass with 2:18 remaining before halftime to complete the first-half scoring. The Indians headed into the locker room with a 35-14 lead.

"Marcus was on tonight," Lang said. "Yeah he had a couple mistakes, but everyone makes mistakes. But the ones that counted, he came through. Practice makes perfect, and when the game is on the line, Marcus puts it where anyone can catch it."

Jackson started the second half with the ball, but Mules defensive back Greg Coble picked off Harris just 48 seconds into the half. Aaron Ellis dashed 50 yards to slash Jackson's lead.

Indians coach Carl Gross was disappointed with the way his team played in the second half.

"It was just a nightmare second half," Gross said.

Harris went 4-of-10 for 62 yards. Lang finished with 52 yards receiving. Zweigart rushed the ball 20 times for 171 yards.