Poplar Bluff football team set records, found success in 7-4 season

At the start of the season, the Poplar Bluff football team had just one returning starter back on the offensive line and questions if the Mules had made enough progress to close the gap with Jackson.

The line held up as the offense scored more points than any other Mules team and nobody was able to keep pace with the defending state champions better than Poplar Bluff.

All that was missing was another shot at Jackson on Friday night and an elusive district title. The Mules finished 7-4.

“We scored more on them (than) anybody this year and we played pretty close to them,” Mules coach David Sievers said. “I just really wanted another shot at them.”

Seckman earned that shot with a 35-34 win over the Mules last week in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 semifinal.

Poplar Bluff’s four losses were against teams with a combined record of 35-7 with two games being decided by eight total points. Three games were decided in the final two minutes with the Mules winning one on a last-second touchdown.

“It was a good year,” said Sievers, who matched Paul Weber for eighth on the career wins list.

“Seven wins is the most we’ve had in a few years.

“The kids played real well this year. We didn’t match up real well against some of the option teams that we played. I think we got better and we definitely had our chances there at the end.”

Poplar Bluff’s 414 points were the most in team history, four more than the 2016 team that averaged 41.0 per game and lost to eventual state champion Vianney in the district semifinal to finish 8-2.

Like that 2016 season, the Mules took to the air and were a big-play offense, setting or approaching numerous team records.

Senior quarterback Kannon Carr threw for 2,751 yards, second only to Zane Foust’s 2016 total by 180 yards. Carr finished third all-time in career passing yards at 5,421 and his 32 completions against Seckman were one shy of Foust’s single-game record.

Nic Brumitt set a single-game record for pass catches in a game twice, first with 16 against Jackson and then 17 last week at Seckman. The senior’s 907 receiving yards were fourth-most ever and he finished ninth all-time with 1,128 career receiving yards while Jacob Baller’s 1,067 ranks 11th.

Senior kicker Chandler Beaton matched the team record for point-after kicks in a game for a second time this season and tied the season mark with 36 extra points.

On defense, linebacker Hunter Jenkins set a modern-day record for tackles in a season with 165, finishing 12 more than Steven Haley’s 2015 total. Jenkins had 296 tackles over the past three seasons with 5.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and four takeaways. (Defensive records were not kept prior to 1990 and there are some missing years since.)

Poplar Bluff’s defense will graduate three of its top five tacklers and six starters total including linebackers Jenkins, Garrett Lazalier and Jacob Baller, Dalton Gatewood in the secondary and Logan Ringstaff and Desmond Howell on the line.

“We’ve got a lot to replace,” Sievers said. “I’ve got a lot of (senior) banners in my office right now.”

Ringstaff was the lone senior on the offensive line. The guard held down the left side with junior Tyden Wilson while tackle DJ Hubrins, guard Kayson King and center Clayton Stark can all return after Poplar Bluff averaged 7.5 yards per play and allowed just eight sacks and 64 total plays for a loss out of 573 snaps.

“Starting two sophomores on the offensive line scared me but they were real solid for us,” said Sievers, who thought the line would be a better at run blocking than pass blockers.

“It turned out to be a really good passing blocking bunch.”

Having a 3 1/2-year starter at quarterback also helped.

“This year a lot of our biggest plays were him making stuff happen when he got flushed a little bit and then keeping his eyes downfield and finding somebody was open and not just automatically tucking and running,” Sievers said of Carr, who threw 23 touchdowns and ran for seven more.

Poplar Bluff’s running backs Atari Amos and Amare White combined for 1,193 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns while the Mules had four receivers with 20-plus catches and 360-plus yards, including senior Devin Gatewood.

Half of Poplar Bluff’s total offense came on just 60 plays of 20-plus yards and those big plays meant the defense ended up on the field an average of six more minutes a game.

The Mules also turned the ball over 2.3 times per game, finished plus-3 on takeaways and had 127 more penalty yards than the opponent.

“We were a big-play team and we made our share of mistakes,” Sievers said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a lot this year. It’s something that we’ve already talked about as a staff that’s got to be cleaned up and worked on for next year.”

Aside from a five-minute stretch to start the second quarter, the Mules kept pace with Jackson in a 50-32 Week 3 loss. Poplar Bluff finished with 3 more total yards and the Mules scored more points that night (32) than anyone else against Jackson, which had given up 39 points total heading into Friday’s district final.

While three of Poplar Bluff’s losses were against run-heavy offenses, the Mules did a much better job against Seckman.

The Jaguars escaped by a point after leading by 14 in the fourth quarter, but their first touchdown may have been the difference when the drive was extended by a penalty after the Mules had forced a punt on the two previous drives.

Seckman also got a lucky bounce when a point-after kick hit the upright and sailed through.

Said Sievers, “For whatever reason it was Seckman’s night."