Semoball

Poplar Bluff hosts Malden, Doniphan for 7-on-7 scrimmage

Poplar Bluff quarterback Kannon Carr passes during a 7-on-7 scrimmage with Malden and Doniphan on Thursday, July 18, 2019, at Mules Stadium in Poplar Bluff.
DAILY AMERICAN REPUBLIC/Scott Borkgren

After getting its first 7-on-7 scrimmage of the summer rained out, Poplar Bluff hosted its own scrimmage on Thursday with Malden and Doniphan joining.

The loosely scripted day featured the traditional 7-on-7 passing drills, with the linemen at the other end of the field battling for impromptu lines of scrimmage. A couple of 40-yard races broke out, and in one instance, a backflip.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” Poplar Bluff coach David Sievers said. “The kids are getting to hit on each other a little bit. I told the Doniphan and Malden coaches when they got here, ‘Guys, we’re just here to play. Whatever you want to do.’ So we are just kind of making it up as we go.”

Sievers, in his second season at the helm, hopes to have a larger version of the scrimmage next year.

“Doniphan has got some good looking kids, Malden has got some good looking kids and it just gives everybody a chance to play football,” he said. “We were hoping to get six or eight schools, and it just didn’t work out, but it’ll get bigger next year.”

The Mules went 5-6 last season before losing to Jackson in the second round of the district playoffs with 11 seniors on the team. The small senior class forced the Mules to feature underclassmen and Poplar Bluff is expected to return its starting sophomore quarterback in Kannon Carr, as well as starting receivers and defensive backs.

Malden is coming off a 2-8 season after four years of at least 10 wins and is learning a new offense and defense under new head coach Justin Peden. Like the Mules, it was the Green Wave’s first 7-on-7 of the summer.

“It’s the first time we’ve gotten to play against somebody else instead of just ourselves,” Peden said. “I see a lot of energy, a lot of positivity, and that’s what we came up here for, just to get some work done and see how far we can go.”

Drew Blankenship has taken over the starting quarterback job for the Green Wave after senior quarterback Ty Miller led the team in rushing and passing last year. Peden said he was mostly focused on making sure the receivers were running correct routes in the new scheme and that the defense was in correct positions.

“Our summer has been really good so far. We’ve had really good attendance, guys working hard in the weight room, picking up new schemes. A new offense and defense is a lot to learn for those guys and they’ve been doing a good job of it,” Peden said. “That’s why we wanted to come here, so we could see how we looked against somebody other than us and I think we’ve been doing a good job.”

Doniphan had its first season of varsity football last year and finished 0-10 and are concentrating on fundamentals.

“It’s a great day for the community of Doniphan and the kids of Doniphan to get to play football because we ain’t had it very long,” Doniphan coach Jeremy Stout said. “Our kids are hungry for success. They come out and work hard every day, they busted their tail in the weight room and throughout the summer and I couldn’t be prouder as a coach.”

Stout added that his offensive line has made great strides since last season.

“If they have not been in the weight room, they’ve been at a team camp at a college somewhere this year. Those guys have worked extremely hard, they’ve changed their physique and if we can all put it together and get on the same page, I think we’ll definitely be an improvement from last year. We can only go up and we are progressing every day,” he said.

The first week of games for the programs is at 7 p.m., Aug. 30. The Dons will play at Cabool, the Mules will host MICDS and Malden will travel to New Madrid Central.

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