Semoball

Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Caruthersville use jamboree to finalize lineups

Dexter quarterback Rhyder Williams (15) throws during a preseason scrimmage Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, at Charles Bland Stadium in Dexter, Mo.
DAR/Brian Rosener

DEXTER — The answer to Poplar Bluff’s quarterback question wasn’t clearly answered Friday at a preseason jamboree at Charles Bland Stadium.

“We’re no closer than when we were before we came over,” Mules coach David Sievers said. “They all three did some good things. They all three did some things that we got to get better at, but that’s okay.

“We don’t need to know until next Friday.”

Jeridon Young’s first pass went for a touchdown before a holding penalty brought it back. He got it back on the next play — with an extra 10 yards.

Mason West’s first pass went for a 20-yard gain, coming 4 yards short of a touchdown, while Jay Edmundson tossed consecutive touchdown passes of 34 and 40 yards.

Edmundson completed all six of his attempts, getting most of the snaps in the final of the three sessions. The sophomore threw for 126 yards and three touchdowns.

“It might be a good thing that nobody stepped out because now we can trust all three of them,” Sievers said.

Only one can take the first snap next week when the Mules open the season at Park Hills Central.

Dexter, meanwhile, also has a few positions to figure out before opening the season Friday at Scott City.

“Some guys that were in those battles started to show tonight,” Dexter coach Chad Jamerson said.

“It makes my job a little easier. It makes those tough conversations a little less tough.”

The Bearcats got a 1-yard touchdown run from junior running back RJ Farmer against Poplar Bluff after converting a fourth down when junior quarterback Rhyder Williams found senior Logan Josupait for 22 yards. Farmer then picked up a 16-yard run, diving to the goal line but falling short.

The session ended with Poplar Bluff senior Makel McFarland intercepting a pass.

Romeoh Wontor also intercepted a pass for the Mules against Caruthersville in the opening session. The Tigers scored on a 38-yard pass on fourth down while giving up five touchdowns to Poplar Bluff.

Atari Amos opened with a 27-yard run then scored on a 7-yard run before later adding a 3-yard touchdown run. Amare White caught Young’s 21-yard touchdown pass while Torrence Williams scored on a 34-yard pass from Edmundson, who found McFarland for a 40-yard touchdown on the next play.

Seven different receivers caught passes for the Mules.

Amos finished with 66 yards on four carries, White added 25 yards on three attempts while McFarland ran for 21 yards on three carries. Logan Hite scored on a 2-yard run against Dexter while sophomore Connor Ray spun his way into the end zone for a 7-yard run against Fredericktown.

“Being an old offensive lineman and being an old-school guy, I’m hoping that we run the ball a ton,” Sievers said. “We’ve got some weapons.

“… I think we’re going to be balanced enough if somebody wants to try and take something away from us we’ve got other options.”

Poplar Bluff’s defense gave up a touchdown in each of the 12-play sessions against the Bearcats, Caruthersville and Fredericktown. Along with the two interceptions, the defense recorded four plays for negative yards.

The Mules fumbled twice and also had a few too many penalties, including the one that took away a touchdown.

“We talked this preseason about being a disciplined team,” Sievers said. “We gave up too much tonight. That’s something we’ve got to fix.”

In his first year as Dexter’s head coach, Jamerson was happy with how the Bearcats responded when things didn’t go as planned.

“We hadn’t been in that kind of situation yet and our kids stepped up and responded to some adversity at times tonight and they responded with some execution,” Jamerson said.

Coming off a 6-5 season, the Bearcats will be young on the line and will have plenty of new starters when the season opens Friday night.

The jamboree offered those young players a chance to “shake some jitters out under the lights,” Jamerson said.

First-year Caruthersville coach Dom Guglielmo said the jamboree was exactly what his young team needed.

“We went out and played some big dogs and my young kids got to play against Dexter’s young kids,” Guglielmo said. “We saw what we needed to improve. We saw things on the field that are going to reinforce coaching points next week.”

Coming off a 2-7 year, the Tigers open the season Saturday at Malden.

Caruthersville quarterback Ty’Lan Golliday threw for 63 yards on 4 of 7 passes and ran for 12 yards against the Mules.

“We kept it very vanilla today,” Guglielmo said. “Some of the kids were like ‘coach, we’re not running this, this and this.’ We’re at Dexter, we’re not putting everything on film, you’re going to have to work for it.”

The Tigers host Dexter on September 30 in a SEMO Central game.

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