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Sikeston slips past Mules
POPLAR BLUFF -- Heading into Friday night's SEMO North Conference game at Poplar Bluff, Sikeston knew it would have to find a way to slow down the Mules' running game.
In particular, the area's leading rusher, Bi Nguyen.
Not only did the Bulldogs contain Nguyen, but they completely stifled the Poplar Bluff offense as they held on for a 22-21 victory at Morrow Stadium to improve to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in league play.
The Bulldog defense was nearly flawless except for a couple big pass plays by the Mules.
Sikeston held the Mules to 27 yards rushing on 21 attempts. They forced six three-and-outs and another time the Mules ran a fake punt that was unsuccessful.
Poplar Bluff (2-3, 0-3 SEMO) only snapped off 36 plays in the game compared to 69 offensive plays for the Bulldogs.
"It makes you look stupid if you don't block somebody," Poplar Bluff coach Mark Barousse said. "In the first half I think we had 13 offensive plays and we couldn't get (Sikeston's offense) off the field. They just grounded it out and controlled the ball and kept us off the field."
Nguyen entered the game averaging 181 yards per game, but the Bulldogs held him to a season-low 34 yards rushing on 15 carries. The 5-foot-6 junior only had three yards on eight carries in the first half.
"Credit the defensive coaches, we had a good game-plan on (Nguyen)," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said. "The kid's just an awesome running back, he's got a big line right behind him. Our deal was penetrate the line of scrimmage and pressure him and make him have to go wide. We felt if we could make him go wide we had a little bit better shot at him."
Although the Mules' bread-and-butter rushing attack was stopped, they did find success through the air with 149 yards, most of it coming in the final three minutes of the game.
"(Defensive coordinator) Andy (McGill) and them do a good job with their defense," Barousse said. "Their scheme was good. I'm disappointed on how we blocked the edge. They're bringing the free safety down hard filling the hole. They stacked the box on us and stuff. When you've got nine hats in the box to stop the football, they've got about two extra than us so I think they should stop us. And we've got to be able to throw the ball."
Poplar Bluff got on the board first when they blocked a punt on Sikeston's opening possession, setting themselves up with excellent field position at the Bulldog 10.
Nguyen scored two plays later from eight yards out to lead 7-0.
Sikeston's offense struggled its first three possessions, but the Bulldogs put together a 12-play, 49-yard drive midway through the second quarter capped by quarterback Reese Porter's 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7, which is where things stood at the half.
Sikeston's defense had held the Mules to just 21 yards of offense in the first half.
"Our defense played great," Gibbs said. "We went in saying, "look guys, this is going to be a four quarter game. We've got to hope that we stick around long enough, our defense has got to play well early so that we can figure out some things on offense to do.'"
After forcing a punt on Poplar Bluff's opening possession of the third quarter, Sikeston's offense marched 71 yards in 12 plays, scoring on an 11-yard run by Chris Word, who played his first full game since Week 1.
Word had a workman-like performance, finishing with a season-high 115 yards on 30 carries with two touchdowns.
Word missed one full game and seven straight quarters of action battling an ankle injury. After the game he said he was operating at "85 percent," but he was happy to be back on the field.
"My athletic trainer really helped me get back in the game and get back healthy," Word said. "I told everybody the past couple weeks, I knew I was going to have to step up and be ready to play no matter how I felt, and today happened to be the day. Hopefully I'll do it again."
Word's presence also helped take some of the pressure off Porter, who said defenses had focused on him the past two games.
"It helps tremendously having him back," said Porter, who finished with 105 yards rushing on 22 carries. "With him back it gives them an extra person for the defense to worry about because he's a great running back and he's one of the leaders of our team."
After Word's touchdown gave the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead, Poplar Bluff answered in just three plays as Collin Jones caught a pass from Kameron Misner wide open across the middle, got a block on the outside from a receiver, and raced 67 yards untouched to the end zone.
However, Jones' extra point was blocked by the 6-3 Porter, leaving the Bulldogs with a 14-13 lead.
"We tell them this all the time, I know every coach does, but you never know when one point is going to make a difference," Gibbs said. "Obviously that was big for us."
Both teams' defenses took control through the rest of the quarter.
With Sikeston still clinging to the one point lead, the Bulldogs put together what proved to be the game's decisive drive, covering 60 yards in 10 plays, eating up nearly six minutes of clock in the fourth quarter, and scoring on a 15-yard run by Word.
Word then ran in the two-point conversion to make it a two-possession game, extending the Bulldog lead to 22-13 with 3:21 left.
As it turned out, the decision to go for the two-point conversion proved to be the difference in the game.
"We were talking about it as we were driving the ball and we just made the decision that the best thing for us to do is go for two and supposedly put the game out of reach," Gibbs said. "We felt like that was the right call."
At this point in the game, Sikeston's defense had allowed just one first down and 114 yards of offense to the Mules.
But Poplar Bluff still had some fight left with two more possessions in the final three minutes.
The Mules scored with 24 seconds left when Misner found Paul Rose in the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown pass. Misner then passed to Tristen Francisco for the two-point conversion to cut the Sikeston lead to 22-21.
The Mules' onside kick was recovered by Sikeston's Shawn Blunt as the Bulldogs kneeled out the remaining time on the clock.
The Bulldogs dominated time of possession, holding the football for 35 of the game's 48 minutes.
"I'm not saying we're smart, but Chris Word's healthy and he got the ball and he was a big difference maker," Gibbs said.
The victory marked Sikeston's seventh straight against the Mules dating back to 2007.
Sikeston is now 5-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Bulldogs will play at Jackson on Friday in another SEMO North Conference game.
| Sikeston | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | -- | 22 |
| Poplar Bluff | 7 | 0 | 6 | 8 | -- | 21 |
First Quarter
P -- Bi Nguyen 8 run (Collin Jones kick), 9:46
Second Quarter
S -- Reese Porter 3 run (Nathan Hampton kick), 6:35
Third Quarter
S -- Chris Word 11 run (Hampton kick), 6:32
P -- Jones 67 pass from Kameron Misner (kick blocked), 5:14
Fourth quarter
S -- Word 15 run (Word run), 3:21
P -- Paul Rose 36 pass from Misner (Tristin Francisco pass from Misner), 0:24
| S | P | |
| First downs | 14 | 4 |
| Total yards | 277 | 176 |
| Rushes-yards | 63-244 | 21-27 |
| Passing yards | 33 | 149 |
| Comp.-Att.-Int. | 3-6-0 | 7-15-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-60 | 3-30 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
Rushing -- Sikeston, Chris Word 30-115, Reese Porter 22-105, Earnest Fobbs 6-32, Nathan Hampton 1-3, Team 1-(-1), Chase Davis 1-(-5), Ray Council 2-(-5). Poplar Bluff, Bi Nguyen 15-34, Alex Lewis 2-9, Daniel Francisco 1-2, Kameron Misner 3-(-18).
Passing -- Sikeston, Reese Porter 3-6-0 33. Poplar Bluff, Kameron Misner 7-15-1 149.
Receiving -- Sikeston, Ray Council 2-26, Chase Davis 1-7. Poplar Bluff, Collin Jones 1-67, Paul Rose 1-36, Tristen Francisco 1-20, Austin Jefferson 1-12, Jordan Emmons 1-7, Briar Alford 1-6.