Brian Rosener is the keeper of the Semoball Cup which is presented to the school with the most successful season. It is based on a formula that takes into account the combined winning percentage of all sports teams plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both teams and individuals. The bonus points are divided by the number of teams a school fields. Rosener has been the sports editor for the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff, Mo. since December 2001. He was born and raised in St. Louis, where he attended Lindbergh High School and Webster University. He is married to Jennifer, a Poplar Bluff native, has a son Jack and a dog named Satchel who stands in for his @semoballBrian photo.

Mules win thriller at Farmington

Posted Saturday, October 17, 2009, at 4:01 PM

FARMINGTON -- Poplar Bluff rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final 7 minutes Friday night for a thrilling 34-31 district win over Farmington.

Eljie Johnson turned a screen pass into an 80-yard touchdown while Greg Coble made a leaping catch from Zach McAnulty for a 78-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to rally the Mules (6-2, 3-0 SEMO).

Farmington (5-3, 2-1) scored 24 straight points by recovering three straight onside kicks in the first half.

After the Mules scored on their opening drive on a 65-yard touchdown run by Johnson with 9:38 left in the opening quarter, Poplar Bluff didn't get the ball back until 12 minutes later. By the, Farmington had built a 24-7 lead.

Farmington quarterback Zach Hibbits threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Odle to cap a 17-play, 74-yard drive that tied the game at 7-7. The pair hooked up again for a 20-yard score after the Knights recovered an onside kick. Connor Davault added a 4-yard touchdown run after Farmington recovered a squib kick at the Mules 8-yard line.

Following another onside kick recovered by the Knights, Poplar Bluff made a goal-line stand, forcing a 21-yard field goal by Logan Bradley with 10:38 left in the half.

The Mules marched 67 yards on 11 plays, scoring on McAnulty's 7-yard run. After forcing a punt, Poplar Bluff scored two plays later on Johnson's 67-yard run to close within 24-19 with 4:10 left in the half.

The Knights took a 31-19 lead on their first snap of the second half when Hibbits hit Odle for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Davault's 13-yard punt return set up the play after a fumble forced the Mules to punt from their own 14.

Poplar Bluff was stopped on fourth down twice while the Knights ate up 6 minutes of clock during the fourth quarter. A penalty stopped Farmington's drive inside the Mules 20-yard line and Bradley's 41-yard field goal attempt with a strong wind at his back sailed just wide left with 6:56 left.

On the next play, Johnson took a screen pass to the left, ran into trouble and headed right, down the sideline for an 80-yard score.

The Mules forced a punt with 3:02 left, trailing 31-26. After a 13-yard pass to Johnson, McAnulty hit Coble over the middle. The senior made a leaping catch between two defenders, escaped a tackle and scored. Johnson ran in a two-point conversion to set the final score with 2:26 remaining.

Poplar Bluff then intercepted Hibbits twice, the first by Nick Shrum with 1:43 to go and the second on the last play of the game after the Mules were stopped on fourth-and-2 at the Knight's 10-yard line with 9 seconds left.

Johnson finished with 246 yards rushing and 13 receiving for three touchdowns. McAnulty threw for 175 yards on 7-of-13 passing and an interception while Zach Ferguson ran 20 times for 83 yards, 33 shy of breaking the school rushing record.

Hibbits completed 20-of-34 passes for 285 yards, 128 by Odle on eight catches. Davault ran 29 times for 96 yards.

The Mules out-gained Farmington 536-382 but only had the ball for 8:08 of the first half.

Read more on the game in Sunday's DAR

Comments

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All I can say is WOW. Three on side kicks in a row?? That's unheard of. The Mules offense is stacked but not so sure they can compete with Sikeston next week. Should be a fun game!

-- Posted by FreyGuys on Sat, Oct 17, 2009, at 9:33 AM

Brian Rosener's response:
The term 'Defense wins championships' comes to mind. If Morrow Stadium is not packed to the hill, I'll shave my head. (Last week, defensive coach Lance Bell bet his facial hair, which I incorrectly called a goatee in my story -- it was actually a circle beard -- that he's grown the past 14 years.)
If its one way for a high school team to test there skills,the Mules passed.Falling behind on the road to a good Farmington team,then mounting a comeback to win.You have to stay POISED!!!If you PANIC,it gits worse!!!Way to go Mules!!!

-- Posted by DonaldTrump on Sat, Oct 17, 2009, at 11:20 AM

Brian Rosener's response:
It could have been worse as Farmington nearly recovered a fourth onside kicks in a row when the ball bounced off one Mule and Jake Smith fell on it. The Mules scored on that drive 11 plays later then, after forcing punt, scored again on Eljie Johnson's 67-yard TD run. They nearly rallied all the way back in the second quarter but Zach McAnulty's pass was picked off at the Farmington 15 in the closing seconds of the half.
Hey Brian. I remember E. Johnson playing last year (i think) but where has this kid came from? He has power and speed. What a mixture with him and Ferguson.

-- Posted by FreyGuys on Sun, Oct 18, 2009, at 7:06 PM

Brian Rosener's response:
Eljie did play last year, however, I believe it was his first since junior high and he played mostly on defense until the end of the year when injuries took their toll on the fullback position. His first career varsity rushing attempt was against Farmington last year and he finished with 133 yards on 14 attempts and two scores, including one for 41 yards. His role was limited after that just because he was learning on the fly. It's still a learning process even this year. Most of his long touchdowns have come on plays around the edge while Ferguson, a four-year running back, has the experience to run between the tackles and still average 8.7 yards per attempt. It's the perfect 1-2 punch that keeps defenses on their heels. I'll talk about it more this week. We're planning a stories Wednesday and Thursday to preview the Sikeston game.

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