JACKSON, Mo. -- The past week has been a bit of an adventure for the Jackson boys soccer team, as it twice had to erase multi-goal deficits in order to remain unbeaten on the season.
On Tuesday, the Indians made sure a slow start was never an issue.
Jackson senior Justice Crosnoe scored just 21 seconds into the game, and the Indians rolled to a 7-1 victory over conference and district foe Poplar Bluff at Jackson Junior High School.
Crosnoe finished with three goals and an assist, Desmond Morris added a pair of goals and Tanner Walton had two assists for Jackson (8-0).
Brodie Martin and Ryan Kinder added goals for the Indians.
"Tonight, our emphasis was to keep the ball on the ground, possession and to be unselfish," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "So I thought we did a great job of that right off the bat.
"The other thing was we wanted our outside mids to attack. We said, 'Attack, attack, attack,' we told our outside players. I thought our outside players did a great job attacking. We broke down the line quite a few times, so I was very pleased with that."
Daniel Orozco-Lozano had Poplar Bluff's lone goal, coming in the 55th minute with the game already out of reach. The Mules (3-6) didn't register a shot until the 47th minute.
Freshman keeper Justin Moses made 15 saves for Poplar Bluff, which has been outscored 21-2 during a three-game losing streak.
"We've just got some personnel issues. We're dealing with getting better and getting better as a team," Poplar Bluff coach Rusty Crafton said. "I'm not using it as an excuse, but we did lose 13 seniors last year. A lot of these guys are inexperienced on the varsity level, so we're just trying to get things organized and get back to working as a team and as one unit.
"It's getting back to the basics and working hard on everything we do at practices and taking pride in everything we do -- fundamental stuff. ... Learning from our mistakes. You can't make very many mistakes against a good team like Jackson, and you try to keep it close. I thought we played them better the first time over at the Notre Dame tournament (a 4-1 loss) than we saw here."
The Indians came out in a 3-5-2 formation, providing numbers in the middle but also penetrating on the wings to create danger. Four of Jackson's seven goals came, directly or indirectly, from wide build-up play, as Poplar Bluff struggled to keep the Indians in front on the flanks and a scrambling unit left space for central attackers to finish off plays.
The trend became apparent immediately, with Walton sliding the ball to Crosnoe on the right side, and the forward used his pace to get around a defender and fire the ball into the far, upper-left corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead in the first minute.
The fast start continued when, seven minutes later, left wingback Kaleb Irby drove into the box from wide and was tackled down, drawing a penalty kick. Morris finished off the spot kick by rolling the ball into the left side of the goal for a 2-0 advantage.
Even when it wasn't scoring every handful of minutes, Jackson was pinning the Mules deep and controlling play. Indians goalkeeper Carter Gentry touched the ball only once in the first half, when a Poplar Bluff free kick from 40 yards out harmlessly rolled through to the keeper in the 37th minute.
A minute later Jackson's lead grew to 4-0.
The second half started much as the first did, with the home side striking quickly.
It took 38 seconds this time, as Crosnoe gave the ball away in the left corner but won it back before beating a defender and putting a cross in, where a wide-open Morris calmly volleyed the ball home.
In the 47th minute, the Mules got their first official shot, as quick touches saw Orozco-Lozano play in Wyatt Rowland, but the shot caught the outside of the side netting.
Seven minutes later, though, Poplar Bluff got on the board, with Orozco-Lozano -- who began the game in midfield but shifted to forward -- sent in unmarked on a pass by Xander Martin, and the Mules senior pinged the ball off the far post and over the goal line from a tight angle to make things 5-1.
"I thought we were possessing the ball a little bit better, moving the ball through the lines," Crafton said. "We found Daniel up top. That's the thing -- we kind of need Daniel up top, but we kind of need Daniel in a midfield position. But looking at it now, I think he's better at the top, and we might stick to that game plan."
Poplar Bluff, which is back on the field Thursday hosting Sikeston, lost the junior varsity game 2-0.