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 28, North County 7

Posted Friday, September 26, 2008, at 10:51 PM

Here's a quick story from Friday's game

POPLAR BLUFF -- It was nearly a perfect homecoming for the Poplar Bluff Mules, who beat North County 28-7 Friday night at Morrow Stadium.

Zach Ferguson ran for 121 yards, Pete Bryant added 53, Austin Williams chipped in 51 and quarterback Todd Bullington ran for 64 and completed his only pass attempt for 18 yards as the Mules (3-2) ran over North County.

But with 1:28 left and needing a first down to ice the outcome, Bullington suffered a knee injury and had to be carried off the field. After the game, Mules coach Shane Kearbey said Bullington will have an MRI done sometime in the next few days to see the extent of the injury.

Bullington was having his best night of the season before leaving the game. The senior gave the Mules a 20-7 lead with a 35-yard run to end Poplar Bluff's first possession of the second half. His 23-yard keeper in the first quarter put the Mules in North County territory for the first time and Williams, who escorted homecoming queen Jasmin Sumrall before the game, scored the first TD for the Mules with 4:10 left in the opening quarter.

Ferguson's 59-yard touchdown run to end the first quarter broke a 7-7 tie just 48 seconds after the Raiders (2-3) pulled even.

Neither team scored in the second quarter but the Mules scored on their first two possessions of the second half to set the final score.

Bryant scored on a 10-yard run with 55 seconds left in the third quarter and Greg Coble hit Ben Knuckles for a two-point conversion.

North County quarterback Derek Gibson threw for 97 yard by completing 10-of-14 passes including seven to Mike Miller for 68 yards. Miller also ran for 71 more including a 58-yard run to set up North County's only score. Will Swofford ran for 78 yards on 19 carries to lead the Raiders on the ground.

There were no turnovers and Poplar Bluff had the only fumble but recovered it. The Mules also committed only two penalties while punter Josh Thompson, who needed stitches on his nose from Wednesday's soccer game, pinned North County inside the 10-yard line twice.

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Tough, tough break for the Mule quarterback, and you have to wonder why he might have been playing with a minute and a half left, and the game out of reach for North County.....

But of course, hindsight is always 20-20...

Nobody could have predicted such an ending to this contest....

Let's hope Todd is ok. Not just because he's Bluff's QB, but because you hate to see ANYONE suffer an injury like this..

-- Posted by Ole Passer on Sat, Sep 27, 2008, at 9:44 PM

Brian Rosener's response:
First off, no update on Todd's injury just yet, but I'll try to have something posted as soon as I hear.
As for Ole Passer, you crack me up. First, you posted this on Rob's blog not long ago�

"Poplar Bluff's high school sports teams have fallen on hard times. The passion to not only participate, but to excel in sports has been hiding somewhere for a while now. It could be the leadership, or the administration stressing other areas of the curriculum. Personaly, I think it's the lack of sports reporting that is 'home town' friendly. Meaning, that when it comes to writing about the local teams, writers have a tendency to stick to the guidelines of 'objective journalism'."

Now you're questioning why Bullington was still in the game?
Maybe his passion to excel got the best of him. He could have just handed the ball off to the second string backfield, which was in the game, but he saw an opening to get the first down and went for it. It's not the coach's fault, it's not the QB's fault, it just happened.
To answer your earlier post about the state of PBHS sports, if you want to blame me, that's fine. But that means I also get credit for two state titles in boys basketball, all those top-five finishes at state by the golf team, the first two all-state medals by a PB wrestler, sending a tennis player to state three times, district titles in girls basketball, golf, softball and track, as well as high-water mark for wins in volleyball, boys and girls soccer and the numerous school records set by the track team in the last seven years.
I may not write like Bob Gray but I agree with him when he said, "I may not have amassed a fortune, but I think I'm a rich man. I've enjoyed my years in sports. I was lucky, I got paid to go to all of the ballgames."

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