Jackson football team drops district opener to Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Jackson football team looked to get the ball back early in the second half while already leading Friday night.

Poplar Bluff faced a third-and-5 near midfield and the Indians hit running back Lorenzo Dailey short of the first-down marker. But the senior broke free, shed another tackler and was gone.

The Mules never trailed again, and Dailey added insurance with an interception return for a touchdown during the fourth quarter in Poplar Bluff's 45-27 victory in the Class 5 District 1 opener for both teams.

"That was a big turning point in the ballgame right there," Jackson coach Van Hitt said. "We had a couple of missed tackles. Well we had about four missed tackles on that run."

The Indians (1-7, 0-4 SEMO) caught the Mules (2-6, 1-3) on Colten Proffer's 21-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

Heading into the fourth quarter tied at 27-27, the Mules put together a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Michael Griggs hit Austin Goodrich for a 16-yard touchdown pass for the lead.

On the Indians' next drive, Dailey picked off a pass and returned it 53 yards for his third touchdown of the game to put the Mules up 39-27 with 9:19 to play.

"He had a great game tonight," Mules coach Mark Barousse said about Dailey. "Zo played really good for us, and we needed that.

"We needed seniors to step up for us and do those things."

Dailey, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior who missed all of last year due to seizures, ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns and led the defense with 15 tackles, a sack and the interception.

Griggs, also a senior, threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns to Goodrich, who caught four passes for a game-high 93 yards.

While the seniors stepped up for the Mules, Jackson's sophomores showed their potential.

Quarterback Ty Selsor, who was making his second start, threw for 142 yards by completing 16 of 24 passes. Proffer ran for 63 yards. Dalton Humphreys recovered a fumble in the end zone to give Jackson's defense a touchdown and the Indians their first lead.

"The kids played hard," Hitt said. "I was very pleased with our effort."

The Indians lost sophomore fullback Garrett Miller in the second quarter after running for 38 yards on five carries. Hitt said Miller dislocated his collarbone.

Jackson already was playing short-handed. Junior quarterback and cornerback Lowgn Wren was out with an ankle injury.

"Unfortunate for them," Barousse said. "They're young like us and both of their corners were out and we picked on them a little bit."

Griggs hit Goodrich down the left sideline for a 63-yard touchdown pass to push Poplar Bluff's lead to 27-20.

A 34-yard throw to Darren Yount on Poplar Bluff's opening drive set up Dailey's 5-yard touchdown run.

Jackson answered with an 11-play, 67-yard drive capped by Jacob Jones' 1-yard dive that tied the game at 7-7.

After both teams punted, the Mules were backed up at their own 4-yard line. Jones stripped the ball from Griggs in the end zone and Humphreys pounced on the loose ball to give the Indians a 14-7 lead.

But the Mules tied it 12 seconds later.

Cornelius Timothy picked up a squib kick and returned it 78 yards down the left sideline.

"The killer was the kickoff return," Hitt said. "We didn't fill a void there and missed."

Jackson took a 20-14 lead into halftime by scoring on its next drive.

Miller got a 29-yard kickoff return and Selsor scrambled to move the chains on third-and-5. He later hit Trea Forbs with an 18-yard pass on another third down then followed with a 20-yard pass to Skyler Steele.

That set up Selsor's 1-yard dive for the lead, but Poplar Bluff's Brian Hicks blocked the extra point.

"I thought that was a big momentum changer," Barousse said. "Those things help when you're struggling and not winning."

Jackson had a long drive end at the Poplar Bluff 27-yard line in the closing minute of the half when Luke Latourette hit Selsor for a loss on fourth-and-inches.

Ken Maudae picked off a pass by Griggs at the Jackson 36-yard line in the closing seconds of the half, but the Mules didn't turn over the ball the rest of the way.

Poplar Bluff produced a season-high 399 yards and outscored the Indians 18-0 in the fourth quarter.

"Bluff is big," Hitt said. "They're a lot bigger than we are up front. They just kind of steamrolled over us a little bit."

Jackson will host Seckman (2-5) on Friday with the winner keeping its slim playoff hopes alive after the Jaguars lost 35-0 to Rockwood Summit. The Indians lost to Seckman 58-35 in last year's game.

Scoring Summary

Jackson 7 13 7 0 -- 27

Poplar Bluff 7 7 13 18 -- 45

First Quarter

PB -- Dailey 5 run (Riggins kick), 6:41.

J -- J.Jones 3 run (Brown kick), 3:05.

Second Quarter

J -- Humphreys 0 fumble return (Brown kick), 11:16.

PB -- Timothy 78 kick return (Riggins kick), 11:04.

J -- Selsor 1 run (kick blocked), 7:43.

Third Quarter

PB -- Dailey 47 run (Riggins kick), 8:01.

PB -- Goodrich 63 pass from Griggs (pass fail), 4:21.

J -- Proffer 21 run (Brown kick), 2:42.

Fourth Quarter

PB -- Goodrich 16 pass from Griggs (kick fail), 11:48.

PB -- Dailey 55 interception return (pass fail), 9:19.

PB -- Timothy 8 run (kick fail), 3:35.

Team Statistics

First downs (Poplar Bluff-Jackson) 16 16

Total yards 399 278

Rushes-yards 36-142 42-136

Passing 257 142

Punt returns 1-0 2-0

Kickoff returns 5-106 7-75

Int. returns 2-86 1-15

Comp-Att-Int. 18-24-1 16-24-2

Sacked-yds. lost 2-8 4-25

Punts-avg. 2-46.0 4-27.7

Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1

Penalties-yards 5-35 4-53

Time of Possession 22:33 25:27

Individual Statistics

RUSHING -- Jackson, Proffer 11-63. Miller 5-38. Selsor 18-24. J.Jones 3-10. Cooper 4-4. Team 1-(-3). Poplar Bluff, Dailey 10-83. TImothy 8-42. Barousse 9-26. Griggs 7-(-9). Team 2-0.

PASSING -- Jackson, Selsor 16-24-2 142. Poplar Bluff, Griggs 18-24-1 257.

RECEIVING -- Jackson, Steele 5-52. Henson 4-45. Forbs 3-28. Miller 1-11. Cooper 3-6. Poplar Bluff, Goodrich 4-93. Hicks 5-56. Yount 3-46. Dowd 3-26. Eudaley 2-24. QMichel 1-12.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.