McIntosh, Indians bully Mules for second win

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Beating Poplar Bluff is always nice for the Jackson Indians, but never more sweet than after a 1-5 start.

The Indians scored four touchdowns from at least 40 yards out to beat the Mules 27-7 Friday night.

"I think you can take winning for granted sometimes if you've been lucky and successful," Jackson coach Carl Gross said. "Things have obviously not been rosy for us."

All that was forgotten as senior Stuart McIntosh rushed for 222 yards on 23 carries and scored on runs of 62 and 78 yards. Jason Meystedt rushed for 83 yards on 12 attempts and got the ball rolling with a 41-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

The Mules (3-4) struggled all night on offense and quarterback Mark Gum completed just 3-of-20 passes for 60 yards. Senior receiver Tony Webb was held to a season-low 43 yards -- two yards shy of breaking Brent Little's school mark for receiving yards in a career.

Jackson (2-5) took a 20-7 lead less than a minute into the second half on McIntosh's 78-yard touchdown.

"I was nervous all night," Gross said. "I watched Poplar Bluff come back last week on Farmington and beat them."

Close finishes

All three of the Mules' victories this season have come in the final minute of the game. In Week 1 they were down a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter. In Week 4 it was two touchdowns. Last week against Farmington, the Mules scored three touchdowns in the final 10:27 to win.

On Friday, the nail in the coffin was a 72-yard bomb from quarterback Tyler Profilet to senior Tyler Boyd with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter.

Poplar Bluff took an early lead after Webb returned a punt 86 yards to the Jackson 4-yard line. Two plays later, Steve Atteberry dived in while Trell Edington's extra point gave the Mules a 7-0 lead with 2:36 left in the first quarter.

"You could tell early we were hesitant," Gross said. "We were playing on our heels a little bit.

"All of a sudden, we had something good happen."

That was a six-play, 69-yard drive after the Mules took the lead. Profilet kept the drive going on third-and-11 from his own 30 when the junior quarterback hit Boyd for the first down. Four plays later, Meystedt slipped through the defense for a 41-yard touchdown run.

The Jackson defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive.

McIntosh then ran down the left sideline for a 62-yard touchdown on the third snap as the Indians took a 13-7 lead into halftime.

After McIntosh's 78-yard TD run with 11:08 left in the third quarter, Jackson ran off six minutes from the clock while the Mules managed to move the chains just once.

Faced with a third-and-8 on their own 28-yard line with seven minutes left in the game, Profilet went to the air and found a wide open Boyd for the final touchdown. Kicker Chad Reiminger was 3-for-4 on a windy but dry night at Morrow Stadium.

Jackson has won four of the last five meetings and is 11-10 against Poplar Bluff in the past 21 years.