Hannibal 31, Mules 21

What happens when I get only four hours to write, edit and put together a seven-page section. Find out in today's DAR … At least the photos look good (nothing more fun to shoot than football during the day). Here's the story …

Poplar Bluff's offense got going early Saturday afternoon at Morrow Stadium -- picking up a first down on the first play -- but the Mules had trouble holding onto the football.

Five turnovers doubled the season total and led to 17 points for Hannibal, which beat Poplar Bluff, 31-21.

"Two important things for successful football teams is for somebody to step up and make big plays and then not to make mistakes," Mules coach Shane Kearbey said. "And we're blowin' both them right now. That's our focus."

For the Hannibal players, it's been hard to focus on football since the death of their teammate Colin Krigbaum in a traffic accident on Labor Day. After a full week of practice, a long 4-hour, 30-minute drive south and a hard-fought win on a hot and humid day, the Pirates seemed drained.

"There's no question they're still in shock," St Clair said. "I'm over here trying to get them up and we got a win. … They're still hurting."

Hannibal quarterback Ian Hatton threw for 134 yards on 10-of-13 passes, Zachary Nichols ran for 107 yards and Jay'Kob King ran for two touchdowns to lead the Pirates (2-1).

Zach Ferguson ran for 142 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown in the second quarter that tied the game at 7-7. Senior quarterback Todd Bullington threw for 114 yards and a pair of touchdowns but was intercepted three times and completed 6-of-21 attempts.

Jake Smith caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and Ben Knuckles pulled in a 37-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter but Poplar Bluff's rally fell short by 10 points, the difference in the points off turnovers.

"We made some mistakes," St Clair said. "(Poplar Bluff) made a couple of mistakes, but we're just fortunate to get out of here with a win after a long road trip after the couple of weeks we've had."

Four of Poplar Bluff's turnovers came in the second half after trailing just 14-7 at the break.

The two teams traded punts to open the third quarter then traded turnovers with Hatton getting picked off first by Poplar Bluff sophomore Josh Freeman. Three plays later, the Mules gave it right back on Hannibal's 27-yard line when King recovered a fumble.

The Pirates marched 67 yards on eight plays to go up 21-7 when King scored on a 15-yard run with 2:01 left in the quarter.

Hannibal got the ball back 17 seconds later when Kayle Boehmer intercepted a pass by Bullington and returned it to the Poplar Bluff 9-yard line. However, the Mules forced a 23-yard field goal by Mat Sims by stopping two runs before a fumbled snap.

Leading 24-7, the Pirates forced another turnover 20 seconds later when the Mules fumbled at their own 19-yard line. This time, Hannibal punched it in on fourth-and-goal on a 1-yard plunge by King.

Poplar Bluff, which rallied from a 16-point deficit in the season opener, closed a 31-7 gap to 10 in the final 6 minutes.

"Every game we've been in this year we've been sluggish in the first half," Kearbey said. "We've battled in every game we've played in, it's nothing new and I kind of expected our kids wouldn't quit and they didn't."

Bullington hit Smith twice during a 71-yard drive including a 31-yard pick up and the 12-yard score with 5:41 left. Greg Coble ran in a two-point conversion and the Mules got the ball back by forcing a punt four snaps later.

On fourth-and-10 from his own 37, Bullington turned to his left and passed to Coble in the backfield, who then hit Knuckles up the middle for a 26-yard gain.

"When you're struggling like we are offensively, we're going to throw the kitchen sink at you," Kearbey said. "We're just going to find out ways to get the ball in the right people's hands.

"There's no telling what we're going to do week-to-week."

On the next play, Bullington hit Knuckles for a 37-yard touchdown pass but the two-point try failed to set the final score.

The Mules got the ball back with 67 seconds left but Bullington's pass was picked off by Sims.

Sims put Hannibal on the board first with 4:11 left in the first quarter when the junior caught an 11-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.

The Pirates looked to score again after converting a fourth-and-4 to the Poplar Bluff 11 but Ethan Hollins recovered a fumble for the Mules.

On third-and-8, Ferguson took an option pitch from Bullington down the right sideline for an 86-yard touchdown run, his longest career touchdown run. That tied the game at 7-7 with 10:33 left in the half but Hannibal quickly answered.

The Pirates marched 80 yards in 11 plays, scoring on third-and-3 when Nichols took an option pitch 13 yards to the left side for the lead.

Sims later missed a 47-yard field goal attempt and Hatton's throw from the Poplar Bluff 22 in the closing seconds of the half fell incomplete.

"It comes down to people gotta make plays and on defense we need to make tackles," Kearbey said. "Until we start doing that, we're going to get some of this every week. Until we clear up those areas, our football team won't be very good."

Notes: The five turnovers for Poplar Bluff were the most since 2006 when the Mules had seven turnovers and lost 23-20 at Cape Central. … The Mules had their five-game home winning streak snapped and lost for the fourth straight homer opener for a new coach. … Ferguson picked up his fifth 100-yard rushing game and is now 9 yards shy of 1,400 for his career. … Poplar Bluff kicker Josh Thompson and Sims combined for five touchbacks while Thompson's first punt went 65 yards.