Mules football host Farmington for homecoming

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Zach Hibbits threw for five touchdowns and ran for another in the first half Friday night, leading the Farmington Knights to a 70-7 win over Poplar Bluff.

Farmington's senior quarterback completed 12-of-16 passing attempts, including 10 of his final 11 for 214 yards as the Knights (5-1) won their SEMO North opener.

The Mules (1-5, 0-2 SEMO) managed just 80 total yards of offense and turned the ball over four times in suffering their most lop-sided loss in 86 years.

Poplar Bluff set a team record for points allowed in a game, which had stood at 69 since 1923. The Mules lost to Blytheville, Ark., 64-0 in 1924 but Friday's 63-point loss saw Poplar Bluff trailing 56-0 at halftime.

Farmington scored 35 first-quarter points, including two touchdowns in an 11-second span.

The Knights scored on their first possession, a 10-play, 50-yard drive that featured two fourth-down conversions. The first came on fourth-and-3 when Hibbits scrambled for a first down while the second came on fourth-and-8 when he hit Doug Warren for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Logan Bradley converted the first of his 10 extra-point kicks for the 7-0 lead with 7:41 left in the opening quarter.

Following an interception by Roper Garrett, Hibbits hit Warren again for a 16-yard touchdown pass on a similar play to put Farmington up 14-0.

The Knights recovered the ensuing onside kick and on the next play, Hibbits hit Kyle Hartrup for a 37-yard touchdown pass and a 21-0 lead.

Garrett added a 4-yard touchdown run to finish a 27-yard drive after the Knights recovered a fumble by the Mules. Four plays later, Poplar Bluff was forced to punt and Connor Davault returned it 74 yards for the touchdown and a 35-0 lead with 36 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Hibbits added a 2-yard touchdown run and hit Bird and Chase Busenbark for touchdown passes of 11 and 3 yards to finish the first half up 56-0.

Poplar Bluff's lone score came with 7:13 left in the third quarter. Denzell Blackmon returned a punt 75 yards and Cornelius Timothy scored on the next play, running 14 yards before Nate LeGrand's extra point.

Farmington scored twice in the final 13 minutes, finishing off a pair of long drives with a 1-yard run by Tim Bretz at the end of the third quarter and Anthony Greco's 9-yard run with 3:32 left in the game.

Greco led Farmington with 64 yards rushing, all in the second half, while Busenbark completed all four of his passes for 62 yards. Farmington had 10 different players catch a pass led by Warren's three catches for 75 yards and Busenbark's three for 48 yards.

The Mules were led by quarterback Josh Freeman's 27 yards rushing and 43 yards passing on 5-of-15 attempts to go with 20 tackles on defense. Timothy, filling in for injured senior Pete Bryant, ran 11 times for 20 yards. Blackmon ran for 8 yards to go with 100 yards on kickoff returns and 84 punt-returns yards.

Poplar Bluff, which drew 15 penalties last week, had just one this week but was 1 for 11 on third down conversions and 1 for 5 on fourth downs.

Farmington 35 21 7 7 -- 70

Poplar Bluff 0 0 7 0 -- 7

First Quarter

FA -- D.Warren 22 pass from Hibbits (Bradley kick), 7:41.

FA -- D.Warren 16 pass from Hibbits (Bradley kick), 4:24.

FA -- Hartrup 37 pass from Hibbits (Bradley kick), 4:13.

FA -- Garrett 4 run (Bradley kick), 2:26.

FA -- Turner 74 punt return (Bradley kick), 0:36.

Second Quarter

FA -- Hibbits 2 run (Bradley kick), 9:29.

FA -- Bird 11 pass from Hibbits (Bradley kick), 6:18.

FA -- Busenbark 3 pass from Hibbits (Bradley kick), 0:28.

Third Quarter

PB -- Timothy 14 run (LeGrand kick), 7:13.

FA -- Bretz 1 run (Bradley kick), 0:54.

Fourth Quarter

FA -- Greco 9 run (Bradley kick), 3:32.

From before the game.

The Poplar Bluff Mules (1-4) host the Farmington Knights (4-1) at 7 p.m. tonight at Morrow Stadium in a SEMO North Conference game.

I'll provide updates during the game on Twitter and Facebook.

Here's a look at five storylines to watch tonight:

* Can the Mules move without their top offensive weapon? Pete Bryant, who has accounted for nearly 58 percent of Poplar Bluff's offensive yards and seven of 11 touchdowns, is out with a shoulder injury. Bryant, who was on pace to reach 1,000 yards rushing, may be ready for district play. William Whitfield will get the start in the backfield while Dustin Hibler will start for Bryant at cornerback.

* Will there be some homecoming magic for the Mules? The last time Poplar Bluff started 1-4, the Mules faced a state-ranked Farmington team for homecoming and lost on a late touchdown, 21-14. This has become an interesting rivalry even before the Knights moved into the SEMO North. Farmington has won three of the last four after a Poplar Bluff comeback last year for a 34-31 win. The Knights won 65-40 the last time they were in The Bluff.

* Can the Mules stop Zach Hibbits? Farmington's quarterback has thrown for 285 and 212 yards against Poplar Bluff in each of the last two years. He's already thrown for over 1,200 yards on the season and Poplar Bluff has not been able to slow down the pass game -- see Vashon's 337 passing yards and 262 last week by Gosnell, Ark. in a 61-20 loss by the Mules.

* Will the Mules have anybody healthy enough to play? Bryant is not the only one out, two-way starter Nick Shrum is out with a knee injury he suffered last week at Gosnell. Last week during his post-game interview, coach Shane Kearbey fell to the ground in pain from a back problem and the last home game featured PBHS Athletic Director Jim Brown in a neck brace after back surgery.

* How special will the special teams be? The Knights recovered three straight onside kicks against the Mules last year to open up a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. Farmington blocked two punts and returned them for scores last week while the Mules have had trouble with the long snap, leading to a safety against Sikeston. Poplar Bluff has scored only four points on special teams this season.

IF YOU GO, it's homecoming. The court will be presented at 6:30 p.m. and features Stephanie Moore, Allison Sells, Allie Thomas, Miranda Burroughs and Fathom Hefner.

AP POLL DEBATE

After reading the discussion about the Class 4 state poll which features both Sikeston and Cape Central this week on Rachel Crader's blog, perhaps I can shed some light since I'm a voting member.

Last year's debate centered on why Sikeston wasn't included in the poll sooner.

This year the Tigers, who went from 0-10 to 5-0, made the poll mostly because there are fewer unbeaten teams in Class 4 right now.

In fact, there's only 10 unbeaten teams left. The ranked 1-loss teams in Class 4 feature Union (lost to a state-ranked Class 5 team), Harrisonville (lost to a good Helias team), Ladue (lost to a bigger school SLUH), and Hannibal (lost to top-ranked Ill. team by four and Hickman by 3). Also, Helias, which beat Sikeston in last year's playoff, has losses to Hickman by 3, Francis Howell (ranked in Class 6), and the same team Hannibal lost to from Ill., (Quincy Notre Dame).

Here's how the poll ended up with my thoughs:

1. Kearney, 4-0, defending champs are outscoring opponents 171-17.

2. Webb City, 5-0, outscoring opponents 222-40.

3. Bolivar, 5-0, has allowed 6.2 points per game.

4. Carthage, 5-0, has allowed 9.8 points per game.

5. Sikeston, 5-0

6. Harrisonville, 4-1, return 14 starters from team that was 11-2.

7. Ladue, 4-1, reached quarterfinal last year and return 13 starters.

8. Hannibal, 3-2, just ask Farmington how good these guys are.

9. Cape Central, 5-0

10. Union, allowed just eight points in first four games.

Others to watch:

Helias, 2-3, three losses a lot now, but they'll move back into poll soon.

Miller Career, 4-0, have win over Class 3 state-ranked team.

Savannah, 5-0, have given up 36 points so far.

St. Dominic, 5-0, beat state-ranked Class 3 team.

St. Joseph Benton, 5-0, needed OT to beat a winless team holding them back.

As I wrote last year, "Of course, polls don't mean anything. And starting (in two) weeks, Sikeston and the rest of the teams in the state can prove just how good they are when the playoffs start."

Sikeston, Cape Central and Farmington will make for an interesting district with one very good team left out.