ROLLA, Mo. -- Logan Bell's first throw to Tyson Cox was on target for a touchdown as the Poplar Bluff receiver raced down the sideline Friday night in a preseason jamboree.
The over-the-shoulder catch and run for 40 yards was the first of four touchdowns by the pair as the Mules prepared for the upcoming season a week away.
Cox tipped another long pass to himself on the run for a 40-yard score then added touchdown catches of 20 and 30 yards as Poplar Bluff faced host Rolla, Union and Waynesville.
"I just threw it up," Bell said. "When you've got Cox there it's easy. And same with (Myanza McCain). I couldn't get the ball to My-My very well today but he's the same way.
"You throw it up anywhere in his direction they're going to go up and get it."
Bell finished with 173 passing yards by completing 8 of 11 attempts, five for touchdowns. The senior also ran for a score among his 27 yards on six carries.
"He did a good job," Mules coach Mark Barousse said. "He's learning how to see it and throw it. You're going to have to take some hits sometimes."
Bell took a hit on a 17-yard touchdown throw to Brett Barousse on fourth down in the second series against Union. Barousse, who also caught an 11-yard pass and ran for 14 yards, found an open seam in the middle and reached up to catch the ball in the end zone.
On the next play from the 40-yard line, Bell threw off his back foot with a defender closing in from behind and another in his face. Cox was wide open 30 yards downfield but had to tip the ball with his outstretched right hand back to himself for the catch.
Cox, who set the single-season and career receiving yards record last year, caught four passes, scoring each time, for 130 yards.
Coming off a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game of his junior year, Bell wore a large brace on his right leg Friday.
"Knee's fine," Bell said. "Just trying to be cautious with a big old brace on there. See if we can play the whole season, that's my goal."
RaShawn McCain, also coming off a knee injury that kept him on the sidelines his entire junior season, ran eight times for 31 yards. His 11-yard run to open the series with Union started a scoring drive.
In 32 offensive plays the Mules gained 259 yards.
Poplar Bluff's defense gave up 140 total yards and three scores, a pair of short passes by Rolla and a 29-yard run by Waynesville against the second-team unit.
Senior linebacker Tanner Dunivan intercepted a pass against Union, which completed just 3 of 12 passes for 24 yards. Dunivan led with five tackles.
"Great play," Coach Barousse said. "He's just a good football player. Good ball skills, good instincts. Makes a lot of plays."
Dunivan moved over from his regular position with senior Makarius Bell out with a concussion.
"Little bit of depth but lose one it makes you a little thin," Coach Barousse said of the linebackers.
Senior linemen Andrew Dugas and Boone Vandover broke up passes with Dugas getting a hand on three. Linebacker RaShawn McCain had four tackles while Cameron Jones had three.
Rolla got a 23-yard quarterback run and a 38-yard pass to set up its two touchdowns after the Mules scored twice to open the scrimmage in which each team gets 12 offensive plays.
In the opening drive, the Mules faced a fourth-and-2. With nobody open to throw to and the pocket collapsing, Bell ran past a defensive lineman and took the linebacker head on a yard short of the first down. Bell peeled off the tackle, spinning away as he put his free hand on the ground for the first down, then regained his feet to pick up an extra 10 yards before taking on another defender for 4 more yards while being brought down from behind by three defenders.
"Just put my arm on the ground and kept going," Bell said.
Bell finished the scoring drive with a 3-yard run on the next play as linemen Steven Jackson, Kendric Gordon and Preston Burroughs opened up a hole.
"We got to play a bunch of kids," Coach Barousse said. "And that's a good thing. I think we almost got everybody in."
"Got good film," he added. "That's what I told them, 'you play well you get four, five plays, next week you'll get eight or 10. We need depth. We need kids. Got a lot of kids going both ways so we need some depth. We get some people to step up we won't have to have people go both ways."