Jackson football team wins shootout with Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- There was plenty of offense Friday night. In fact, it was historic.

Jackson and Poplar Bluff each scored seven touchdowns as the Indians held on for a 50-48 SEMO North Conference rollercoaster of a game.

"It felt like a rollercoaster," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said. "At one point, when we were up 10 in the fourth quarter, I felt like we had them and then one play, touchdown."

Jackson (2-3, 2-0 SEMO North Conference) saw one 10-point lead in the second half disappear, but the Mules (3-2, 1-2) ran out of time 30 yards shy of doing it again.

"We were playing together as a team. We had confidence in ourselves," said Jackson senior Jeremy Elliott, who caught 11 passes for 185 yards and converted six point-after kicks.

Jackson quarterback Landry Moore throws a pass to wide receiver Jeremy Elliott during the first half of Friday's game against Poplar Bluff in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. (Brian Rosener ~ Daily American Republic)

Jacob Starzinger's 5-yard touchdown pass from Landry Moore on fourth down put Jackson ahead 43-40 with 9 minutes left. The drive started when lineman Nick Freeman forced a fumble and Jackson recovered on the Mules 34-yard line.

Elliott's third touchdown catch, a 27-yard pass from Moore with 4:49 left, extended Jackson's lead to 10. It came on third-and-7, four plays after converting a fourth-and-7 at Jackson's own 33-yard line.

"That was a position where I felt like we needed to roll the dice because I was afraid we lost momentum and we kind of needed some," Eckley said.

Elliott got open when he made a move to the sideline and his defender slipped.

Jackson's drive started when Starzinger deflected a pass on third down and the Mules threw incomplete on fourth-and-7 taking a shot at the end zone.

Poplar Bluff quarterback Tristen Francisco threw for a school-record 443 yards on 26-of-41 attempts, tying another record with six touchdown passes. The senior also ran for a score and for a two-point conversion.

"I think we left 14 points on the field in the first half," Mules coach Mark Barousse said. "We had three deep balls we should have caught. You've got to do that when it counts."

In a game that featured a combined 1,075 total yards, there were four lead changes and a tie with Jackson taking a 21-20 lead into halftime.

They traded scores on the first four possessions of the third quarter before Jackson was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Mules 46.

Poplar Bluff went ahead 40-36 when Francisco hit Denzel Britton two plays later for a 49-yard touchdown pass down the sideline.

Poplar Bluff's Jonathan Barnes later intercepted a pass at the goal line, but Francisco fumbled on the next play to start the fourth quarter.

"We're fortunate to win," Eckley said. "Very proud of our kids that played hard. We battled."

Jackson's quarterbacks combined for 385 total yards. Moore threw for 262 yard on 18 of 26 passes, including four touchdowns. Thele added 50 yards on 4 of 6 passes and ran for 73 yards on 15 attempts, running for two scores and throwing another.

Laster ran 16 times for 123 yards.

Poplar Bluff's Jerrid Moore caught three first-half touchdown passes from Francisco and finished with 12 catches for 173 yards. Ross Rushin led the Mules with 199 receiving yards on nine catches, including a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.

The Mules, who were missing their point-after kicker because the soccer team was out of town, converted 3 of 7 two-point attempts, one on a fumble recovered in the end zone.

The two-point difference on the scoreboard at the end, however, came after Jackson's first second-half touchdown. Holder Lashone Dean bobbled the snap but got off a desperation pass that Landen Pehle caught for a 29-20 lead.

Jackson's 21 points off turnovers were the biggest difference in the game.

Payne Gulliams intercepted a pair of passes for the Indians defense, both leading to touchdowns. The first came on Poplar Bluff's second drive and set up Elliott's 14-yard touchdown catch from Thele, cutting the Mules lead to 8-7. The junior's second interception came at the end of the first half, leading to Elliott's 48-yard touchdown catch from Moore on the next play that put the Indians up 21-20 with 1:27 before the break.

It was the most points scored in the 92nd meeting of the rivalry, which Jackson leads 45-40-7.

It was also the most points scored by the Mules in a loss ever. In fact, Poplar Bluff was 78-2 when scoring 40 or more points, including a 53-43 loss to Hillsboro last season.

"It looks ugly," Barousse said. "Any time they needed to make a play, they made a play and we weren't able to make plays."

Jackson 7 14 15 14 -- 50

Poplar Bluff 14 6 20 8 -- 48

First Quarter

PB -- J.Moore 46 pass from Francisco (Cox pass), 10:18

J -- Elliott 14 pass from Thele (Elliott kick), 6:01

PB -- J.Moore 27 pass from Francisco (run fail), 3:36

Second Quarter

J -- Thele 5 run (Elliott kick), 6:52

PB -- J.Moore 20 pass from Francisco (pass fail), 5:27

J -- Elliott 48 pass from L.Moore (Elliott kick), 1:27

Third Quarter

J -- Starzinger 49 pass from L.Moore (Pehle pass), 10:03

PB -- Rushin 44 pass Francisco (pass fail), 7:00

J -- Thele 32 run (Elliott kick), 5:48

PB -- Rushin 65 pass from Francisco (run fail), 5:35

PB -- Britton 49 pass from Francisco (Francisco run), 3:18

Fourth Quarter

J -- Starzinger 5 pass from L.Moore (Elliott kick), 9:01

J -- Elliott 27 pass from L.Moore (Elliott kick), 4:49

PB -- Francisco 7 run (J.Moore run), 3:43

PB J

First downs 16 22

Total yards 533 542

Rushes-yards 20-90 52-230

Passing yards 443 312

Punt returns 1-16 2-3

Kickoff returns 7-39 7-112

Passes 26-41-2 22-32-1

Punts-average 2-37.5 3-44

Fumbles-lost 1-1 7-1

Penalties-yards 8-75 12-125

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Poplar Bluff, Francisco 11-53. Gatewood 5-24. J.Moore 2-13. Barousse 2-0. Jackson, Laster 16-123. Thele 15-73. Reid 13-47. Elliott 1-3. Dean 2-1. Kent 1-(-1). Team 4-(-16)

PASSING -- Poplar Bluff, Francisco 26-41-2 443. Jackson, L.Moore 18-26-0 262. Thele 4-6-1 50.

RECEIVING -- Poplar Bluff, Rushin 9-199. J.Moore 12-173. Britton 1-49. Cox 3-17. Gatewood 1-5 Jackson, Elliott 11-185. Starzinger 6-95. Dean 2-14. Gross 1-12. Kent 2-6.