Seckman holds off Poplar Bluff 35-34 in C5D1 semifinal

Poplar Bluff's Nic Brumitt runs after a catch in the first half of the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 semifinal Friday night, Nov. 5, 2021, at Seckman High School in Imperial, Mo.

DAR/Brian Rosener

IMPERIAL, Mo. — A dramatic finish was set up by early missed opportunities for the Poplar Bluff football team.

The Mules trailed by 14 with a little over seven minutes remaining but had a chance to take the lead after a long touchdown pass with 89 seconds to play.

Poplar Bluff’s running back was brought down a yard short of the goal line on the two-point attempt as the Mules season once again ended in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 semifinal.

Seckman escaped with a 35-34 win to face top-seeded Jackson for the district title next week.

The Mules finished 7-4 falling in the district semifinal for the seventh straight year.

“We just left too many points on the field,” Mules coach David Sievers said. “If I had it to do over again, I’d made the same call.”

Kannon Carr hit Darius Graham over the middle for a 59-yard touchdown pass to get the Mules within a point after Poplar Bluff started the drive at its own 10-yard line with 2:10 to play.

On the point-after attempt, Atari Amos ran through the middle just as he did for big gains and Amare White had done for a pair of touchdowns in the second half. This time, a pair of Seckman defenders were able to bring down Amos short of the goal line.

“We had success with that play,” Sievers said. “It didn’t work.”

Seckman recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock and Poplar Bluff’s season.

“I hate it for the kids,” Sievers said. “I didn’t want to go into overtime. I really thought that was our best chance.”

The Jaguars (9-2) had scored on all but one second-half possession when they were forced to punt after a third-down penalty.

Seckman’s Cole Ruble ran for 254 yards on 34 carries with three touchdowns while Ty Kitchen ran for two scores in the second half.

Carr threw for 425 yards on 32 of 47 passes to reach 5,421 for his career. His 2,751 passing yards on the season were second most all-time and his final throw was a perfect over-the-shoulder toss to Graham for a touchdown.

Nic Brumitt caught 17 passes, breaking his own single-game record, for 198 yards while Jacob Baller had 93 yards receiving on eight catches as both seniors reached 1,000 yards for their career.

Senior linebacker Hunter Jenkins set a new single-season tackle record at 160 and kicker Chandler Beaton matched the point-after kick mark with 36 on the season by converting all four of his attempts.

“I just hate it for the seniors that went out this way,” Sievers said. “We accomplished a lot of really good stuff this year.”

Poplar Bluff was looking for a second chance at top-ranked Jackson after losing 50-32 in Week 3. The Mules pulled off a come-from-behind win in their first road game, beating Battle on a touchdown catch by Baller with 11 seconds left but lost the following week at Farmington on another last-second touchdown. Poplar Bluff’s only other loss was to state-ranked Hillsboro to end the regular season.

Facing another run-first offense, Poplar Bluff’s defense forced a punt on Seckman’s first two possessions but the Mules missed a chance to pull ahead early.

“We had the game,” Sievers said. “We should have been in control of that game in the first half. We weren’t.

“…We had our chances early and we didn’t capitalize.”

After winning the toss, the Mules got the ball first but didn’t pick up a first down. A holding penalty forced Seckman to punt away its first possession and the Mules were on the move after a 34-yard pass to Brumitt and a 20-yard run by Amos.

Baller’s 12-yard catch and run got Poplar Bluff to the Seckman 12 but the Jaguars hit Amos in the backfield on first down. A pair of incomplete passes ended the drive but the Mules defense forced a three-and-punt.

This time, Poplar Bluff was able to finish a 65-yard drive when Carr found Devin Gatewood in the end zone for a 29-yard pass. The senior caught the ball with a defender drawing a pass interference flag as the Mules led with 1:23 left in the opening quarter.

Seckman was forced to punt after junior cornerback Chris Matlock broke up a third down pass, but the Mules ran into the punter extending the drive.

The Jaguars took advantage by competing a first-down pass on third-and-6 and scored on Ruble’s 1-yard run with 6:12 left in the half.

The Mules retook the lead on Brumitt’s 12-yard touchdown pass after a roughing the passer penalty on third-and-14 gave Poplar Bluff a first down.

Seckman scored 17 seconds later when Ruble followed his blockers to the right, broke free to the sideline and scored on an 80-yard run.

Sievers said the Mules were a defender short on the play.

The point-after kick hit the right upright but bounced through to tie the game at 14-all.

“The kids played really, really hard,” Sievers said. “I told them ultimately when the game’s over we can’t have any woulda, coulda, shoulda’s.

“We made a couple of crucial mistakes.”

Poplar Bluff got the ball back with 2:18 before the half, but the kickoff stopped at the 1-yard line instead of rolling into the end zone for a touchback and the Mules were only able to return it to the 12.

Carr completed 5 of 6 passes to Baller and Brumitt to reach Seckman’s 43-yard line with 43 seconds left. Baller later picked up 15 yards, getting out of bounds at the 26 with 22 seconds left but Carr’s next throw was picked off by junior linebacker Hayden Gatterer.

Sophomore linebacker Jaydon Ashlock intercepted a pass to end Poplar Bluff’s opening second-half possession after Ruble scored on a 53-yard run to open the third quarter.

Kitchen’s 12-yard run put Seckman up 28-14 with 8 minutes left in the third but the Mules answered with a 5-yard touchdown run by White set up by Baller’s 18-yard catch and run thanks to a block by an offensive lineman.

Seckman’s 12-play, 66-yard drive ended with Kitchen’s 27-yard run with a dive at the pylon with 9:42 left in the fourth but the Mules answered with 7:01 left on White’s 1-yard run.

The Mules overcame a pair of fourth downs on the drive with a 13-yard pass to Baller and Carr’s 14-yard run.

The Mules appeared to get the ball back by forcing a punt with 4 1/2 minutes left but a running-into-the-punter penalty kept the drive alive for 2 more minutes.

It was one of nine penalties for 95 yards against the Mules while Seckman also had nine penalties for 60 yards.

“We made too many mistakes,” Sievers said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with corrected stats.