Semoball

MULES LOOK TO RUN Poplar Bluff soccer focuses on endurance, possession as keys to season

Poplar Bluff seniors, from left, Marquis Johnson, Quinn Johnson, Eduardo Corona, Ryan Farley, Tommy Holland and Alex Ketcherside lead the Mules soccer team this fall.
DAR/Brian Rosener

Poplar Bluff soccer players may have thought they joined the cross county team this fall as the Mules have been running and hitting the weight room more often.

For the second straight year, Mules coach Rusty Crafton has pushed his players to be in better shape than their opponents.

“Endurance is key for us,” Crafton said. “We want every one of our players to be able to play a whole 80 minutes, which is pretty tough, but I think we can do it.

“We’re trying to get to that goal where we don’t get tired on the field and can run with anybody.”

Crafton points to a 3-0 loss at Jackson last year when all three goals came in the second half.

“We want to finish that game off,” Crafton said.

Coming off a 6-16-1 season in which they were shutout nine times, Crafton has also installed a new formation. Poplar Bluff returns all six players that scored multiple goals last year but must fill some key spots on defense.

Up top, senior Alex Ketcherside returns after leading the team with 14 goals last year while junior forward Zak Lipsey, who scored 10 goals, also returns. Junior midfielder Hayden Pinderski scored seven times while senior Tommy Holland led the team with five assists.

Poplar Bluff was 5-4-1 when scoring at least two goals but just 1-17-1 when giving up at least two goals.

The Mules will have a new keeper in Dawson Vaughn. The sophomore saw varsity time in front of the net last season and Crafton said Vaughn is “agile, he’s got awareness, great skills on that.”

Poplar Bluff also has to replace two starters in the back.

Crafton said sophomore Lucas Robertson will start as center back with some different lineups on the outside that will feature seniors Quinn Johnson, who had three assists and a pair of goals last year, and Marquis Johnson, who scored twice.

Holland is a defensive midfielder, Crafton said, while sophomore Jon Grimaldo will be a midfielder. Maliek Clinton, a junior who had a goal and two assists last year, is back along with senior Eduardo Corona, juniors Brady Robertson, Chandler Beaton and Cody Gray.

Crafton said some younger players can help out off the bench while juniors Dalton Teague, Ashton Wallace, Chase Brannan, Carson Dille, Jordan Moss and Dylan Harper are on the varsity roster. The junior varsity features 15 underclassmen, including nine freshmen.

“I think we have more depth than previous years,” Crafton said.

Possession will again be a key for the Mules if they want to use the endurance and strength they’ve been working on, Crafton said.

“That’s our key, to make complete passes and then move the ball up the field,” he said. “Any time we can get more time of possession with the ball that’s going to give us more of a chance to win.”

The Mules ended the regular season last year with a 4-4-1 run before losing 6-0 to top-seeded Northwest in the district semifinal.

Poplar Bluff last reached the district final in 2015, a year after advancing to the state quarterfinals after winning the program’s second district title.

“I think a lot of these senior guys — it’s a good group of seniors — that’s their goal,” Crafton said. “They want to go out with a district championship and I think they can.”

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