Poplar Bluff's opening drive against Sikeston was going about as well as one could hope.
The Mules marched 45 yards in seven plays and had second and goal at the 1-yard line. Had they punched it in, it would have been Poplar Bluff's longest touchdown drive of the season in total number of plays.
Instead, a bad handoff led to a fumble and a turnover. Sikeston went 93 yards in 13 plays for its own grinding touchdown drive and the Mules never recovered. Eventually losing 34-0 in a game that was called early in the fourth quarter during a weather delay.
Before everyone left the Poplar Bluff locker rooms that night, coach David Sievers told the team that the loss was on the coaches. It is their job to get the kids ready and for whatever reason they weren't ready to go.
He also told offensive coordinator John David Pattillo that in week 4 against Ritenour, the Mules were going to simplify things.
"We had three or four kids and we were expecting them to play three or four positions (against Sikeston) on the offensive side of the ball and it just didn't work," Sievers said, adding that this week players were going to be moving around less. "We just did not execute, offensively, at all last week."
Sievers highlighted the pick 6.
"When you sit up in the bleachers, everybody yells at the quarterback but it definitely wasn't Stevie (Pierce's) fault. He threw a good ball. The receiver was supposed to cut in and he cut out. Steve threw the ball where he should have," he said. "We were hoping to put our athletes on the outside and let Stevie throw the ball around a little bit but the offense just didn't click. I'm sure Stevie will get some reps and everything this week, but we are just going to simplify things."
Part of simplifying things means Josiah Kilgore is likely to start at quarterback after Pierce started against Sikeston. Kilgore started the first two weeks of the season and has run for 170 yards this season, including 119 yards in Poplar Bluff's season opener against Sumner.
"What we've seen on film that Ritenour is going to give us is that if we can execute our offense, it is going to be deliberate, and quite honestly, their athletes are more athletic than ours so the big plays are probably not going to be there this week. We are going to have to be patient and take what they give us," Sievers said. "We think if we can make them drive the field, it is to our advantage because they have some serious big play potential. Our gameplan this week with their athletes on the other side of the ball is to just be patient."
Poplar Bluff's longest touchdown drive this season is seven plays and it has four touchdown drives of just five plays or more. The Mules have not had a 10-play drive of any kind so far and two drives of nine plays. One in the second quarter against Sikeston that ended with a turnover on downs, and one against Riverview Gardens that ended in a punt.
Defensively, Sievers expects this to be a bend but don't break kind of game for the Mules.
"Offensively, they are pretty balanced. They throw the ball around some, they want to run the ball a lot. They've got a very talented quarterback who makes a lot of things go," he said. "They'll run a lot of option stuff with him, a lot of veer looks with him. But the thing that scares me the most, because we are going to be so geared up for their run game, that their play-action pass game is pretty good. They've got some talent."