Poplar Bluff gears up for rival Jackson

The Poplar Bluff High School Mules football team is gearing up for a big rivalry week, and head coach Dave Sievers hopes to carry over the momentum from last week’s overtime win over Cape Central.

The Mules will hit the gridiron on Friday to host longtime rival Jackson High School for a district matchup. These two rivals met twice last season, where the Jackson Indians grabbed a win during the regular season, and the Mules responded with a 21-20 win in the Class 5 District 1 tournament. Though Jackson holds the most wins in the matchup, the Mules will rely on the previous victory over the Indians as a booster for a chance to land another win.

Heading into this week’s matchup, Sievers said the team has been full of positivity after getting their first win and believes the Mules are ready to play.

“We’ve had a really good week of practice,” Sievers said. “Last week, we were flat during practice, but I think after getting our first win, the attitudes have changed. Trying to stay motivated without a win is tough, but that’s behind us now. After getting a conference win last week, we now have the opportunity to do it again. This game is really important, but the kids are pretty focused right now, and it has truly shown during practice.”

Sievers said the biggest thing from the previous game they plan to carry over into this week is being able to execute offensively. The Mules struggled to move the ball in the first few games as they still needed time to polish their gameplan.

One would say the Mules played some of their best football of the season thus far against Cape Central with their explosiveness on offense. The Mules finished with 253 yards in passing and 145 rushing yards with six touchdowns.

“I think finding our offensive rhythm early in the game will help us throughout the season,” Sievers said. “I believe we executed very well, and you don’t score 42 points by accident, especially against a good team like Cape Central. We were able to be consistent enough offensively to keep the field position in our favor, which is tough to do against a really good offensive football team.”

Starting quarterback Jay Edmundson threw 17/31 on 225 yards with one passing touchdown and rushed for 97 yards with two touchdowns. Senior Darius Graham had 10 catches with 153 yards receiving and one touchdown. Logan Hite chipped in with two rushing touchdowns, and Jais Soto added with one.

Poplar Bluff quarterback Jay Edmundson waits for a snap during practice Wednesday at Mules Stadium. DAR/D'COURTLAND CHRISTIAN

Sievers hopes the team can keep up the same energy offensively against a strong team such as the Jackson Indians. He said every team has a weakness somewhere, but it’s up for them to exploit and capitalize off of it. According to Sievers, getting ready for a big conference matchup will boil down to working hard in practice and putting that energy toward the game.

As they prepare to host Jackson, Sievers said the Mules are pumped to play and expect the quarterbacks and receivers to be on the same page again.

“Nobody’s ever played a perfect game, but we had a pretty good game throwing the football, and I hope that continues,” he said. “Jay played very well for us, and he grants us the opportunity to run some power read stuff, and Coach Pattillo has done a good job of mixing that in. I’m an old-fashioned guy who likes to run the football, but I understand we must do what works better for us that week. We’ve got some really talented kids who can move the ball, so our game plan will always be execution. Last week against Cape, it was sharp passes and running the ball at the right time. We’re just going to play our game and take whatever Jackson gives us.”