Mules vs. North County preview

I got off the phone with North County coach David Leeds about an hour ago, which wasn't in time to go with today's preview page, but here's the story any way (more notes updated Friday):

As if homecoming wasn't a good enough reason to head for Morrow Stadium on Friday night, the Poplar Bluff Mules face North County in a rematch from last year's homecoming thriller.

The Mules won 27-21 in overtime when Todd Bullington scored on a 10-yard run.

"I'm thinking it will be about the same," North County coach David Leeds said.

Just about everybody is back for both teams, who enter this game with identical 2-2 records. The Mules are coming off a 38-13 win at Dexter while the Raiders lost 35-14 to Sullivan in a game that featured a two-hour weather delay.

The Raiders are led by senior quarterback Derek Gibson (6-2, 200-pounds) who torched Poplar Bluff for 294 yards passing last year. This fall, Gibson has completed 70 percent of his passes for 413 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Mike Miller (5-11, 165, senior) is North County's leading rusher and receiver with eight touchdowns. He has 16 catches for 228 yards and 277 rushing yards on 18 attempts.

"We try to get the ball to him as much as we can in different situations," Leeds said.

Brent Marler (6-0, 170, sr.) has gotten the most carries for the Raiders -- 177 yards on 45 attempts -- while Will Swofford (5-8, 185, sr.), Caleb Boyer (5-9, 150, jr.) and Will Karius (5-9, 155, sr.) also carry the ball. North County's offense features a Wing T approach without the T, Leeds said.

Poplar Bluff coach Shane Kearbey said the toughest part about preparing for the Raiders offense is the misdirection they run.

"It makes it tough to read and key to get guys to the football so we've got to be gap sound and make sure we understand what they do," Kearbey added.

The Raiders defense has been strong against the run up front, Leeds said, but has struggled against teams that like to pass. Last week, Mules quarterback Todd Bullington attempted only four passes and one was a spike to stop the clock.

Last year Bullington beat the Raiders with his feet, running for 110 of Poplar Bluff's 419 rushing yards, but he has thrown three touchdown passes in the first three games after throwing just two all of last year.

Poplar Bluff has had a happy homecoming in five of the last eight seasons and another would give the Mules a winning record halfway through the regular season for the second straight year after three straight losing seasons.

"This is an important game for us," Kearbey said. "I feel like we're heading in the right direction and we need to definitely stay focused on the game, go out there, do our assignments and hopefully get a win."

GAME NOTES

IF YOU GO: The homecoming ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. and features Caroline Spencer (escorted by Cameron West), Jasmin Sumrall (Austin Williams), Jamie Fritts (Todd Bullington), Alex West (Zack Stricker) and Grace Griffith (Percy Garcia).Admission is $3.

JV MULES Trailing with 2 minutes left Monday, Chance Berry kicked a game-winning 30-yard field goal to beat New Madrid 9-8. Greg Coble returned a kickoff 99 yards for Poplar Bluff's lone touchdown and also ran five times for 27 yards. Kerey Smith rushed for 45 yards while Pete Bryant ran for 36 yards. Zac McAnulty ran for 26 more and was 1-for-4 for 16 yards passing and also had three sacks. Cody Kays also had a sack while Brandin Smith led the defense with 11 tackles as the Mules improved to 2-1.

FRESHMEN The Mules edged Jackson 22-19 last Thursday for a 2-0 start. Michael Griggs threw for 203 yards on 7-of-11 attempts as Kendric McCain caught four passes for 170 yards while Lorenzo Daily picked up 26 yards. William Whitfield ran for 63 yards on eight attempts while Lonnie Watkins led the defense with 12 tackles and Daily added eight. The Mules host Kennett tonight.

NOTES: Ben Knuckles led the Mules defense last week at Dexter with eight tackles while Josh Freeman and Caleb Conover each added seven. … Zach Ferguson reached 1,500 rushing yards for his career last week and needs 8 yards to pass J.B. Hayes for 17th all-time. His 186 yards last week was the sixth 100-yard game of his career and second in a row.

BLOG ITEMS: Read about North County online at darnews.com (click on Brian Rosener's blog, it's free).

SERIES: This is the third meeting between the two teams with the home team winning each time and last year needing overtime:

year, NC-PB

2007 21-27

2006 38-21