Tigers escape Mules' rally for district championship

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Central wrapped up one football district title -- the European kind -- on Wednesday and can do the same tonight by beating the same team.

The Tigers defended their Class 3, District 1 soccer title with a 5-3 win over Poplar Bluff when Heath Orr scored his school-record 28th and 29th goals of the season. Grant Hengst's goal in the 54th minute broke a 3-3 tie while Trey Wills added an insurance goal six minutes later.

After rallying from a two-goal halftime deficit in the semifinals against Jackson, Poplar Bluff did it again on Wednesday.

The two teams will play for in a district football game today at Houck Stadium.

Orr got the Tigers (18-6-1) on the board first with a goal 52 seconds into the game. Central's Bryan Ross crossed the ball into the Mules' penalty box for Aaron Bornstein, but the ball got past the junior and to a wide-open Orr.

"He's in the right place at the right time," Poplar Bluff coach Mark Papp said.

Bornstein gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead three minutes later on a half volley from the top of the box that sailed over the reach of Poplar Bluff keeper Blake Collins.

The Mules (18-6-1) countered with a goal in the 15th minute then got the equalizer less than two minutes later when leading scorer Justin Caudel beat Central keeper Aaron Meystedt on a break away.

Poplar Bluff nearly took the lead late in the first half but Meystedt made two key saves.

"I knew I didn't want to be in that position," Central coach Tom Doyle said of the Mules taking the lead. "I was very, very concerned about that."

Instead, it was the Tigers who took a 3-2 lead five minutes after the intermission when Orr put in a rebound that bounced off the right post.

Poplar Bluff answered just four minutes later when Jason Duckett knocked in his own rebound for a 3-3 tie.

Hengst gave Central the lead for good when his shot from about 20 yards out deflected off Collins' hand and into the net. Collins also got a piece of Willis' goal with just over 20 minutes left in the game that gave Central a 5-3 lead.

"We tested the waters of a deficit too many times tonight and we paid for it," Papp said.

In Monday's semifinal against Jackson, the Mules scored with three minutes left to force overtime. After 120 minutes of play Poplar Bluff won a shootout 3-2, but the affects of the long game lingered.

"We kept coming back but you could see the legs were heavy and things just didn't go the way we wanted it," Papp said.

Central, which handed the Mules four of their six losses this season, will play tonight's winner between St. Louis University High (21-3-2) and CBC (15-6-4) Tuesday at Houck Stadium in the sectional round.