David Sievers had to wait 30 years to get his first win as the head coach of Poplar Bluff football. Sumner with Transportation with Law made him wait an extra 90 minutes.
Sumner was late getting into town from St. Louis, and the 7 p.m. game didn't kick off until after 8:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Mules were in the locker room getting worked up.
"We was hyped," quarterback Steven Pierce said.
"You don't make us wait on our home field," fellow quarterback Josiah Kilgore said.
Poplar Bluff needed two offensive plays to score its first touchdown, was up 28-0 after the first quarter and played much of the second half with a running clock as the Mules won 50-8 on Friday at Mules Stadium.
Sievers actually has a 1-1 record as a head coach at Poplar Bluff. He served as the interim head coach for the final game of the 2010 season, which the Mules lost 42-14 to Seckman to finish 1-9 for the season.
"We were going to onside kick and play defense and try and do whatever, but I told the kids, we were going to take the ball and we were going to go score," Sievers said. "We've got some weapons. We've got some kids who can go and run around a little bit."
After Shemyron Townsend ran the opening kick back to midfield, he took the handoff for the inaugural play of Sievers' tenure as head coach and took it 24 yards.
Isaiah Johnson took the next carry 29 yards for a touchdown.
Sumner (0-1) went three-and-out, and Kilgore kept a read option and raced up the sidelines. He reached the endzone, but the referees said he tip-toed out of bounds at the 25 for a 41-yard gain.
Having nearly scored twice in three offensive plays, Poplar Bluff (1-0) took another four plays to score.
Pierce, who rotated with Kilgore all night at quarterback, dropped back on 1st and 10 at the 15 and found Kilgore in the flat. He turned upfield and raced up the sideline for a touchdown.
Townsend added a touchdown run and, with 2:27 still left in the first quarter, Kilgore fooled the entire defensive line with a nasty play action fake and casually found Quinten Bell wide open for a touchdown pass.
It was 28-0, touchdowns on every possession, and the rout was on.
Kilgore and Pierce rotated back and forth at quarterback with both finding success.
Pierce was 4 for 8 passing for 46 yards and three touchdowns for a 107.3 QB rating.
"Whenever I'm throwing the ball, I have good vision for the field," Pierce said. "He's more of a runner and I'm more of a thrower."
His favorite target, in fact, was Kilgore, who put together an all around game. The athletic senior had 119 rushing yards and a touchdown on six carries.
"I had to lock in, make sure my mind was focused," Kilgore said. "I'm trying to get better every time I step on the field ... The more (yards) the better for the team."
He caught two passes for 35 yards, both for touchdowns, and was 2 for 3 passing for 26 yards and another touchdown.
"That's kind of been the plan all along," Sievers said of playing two quarterbacks. "Steven throws the ball a little bit better and Josiah runs the ball a little bit better. Coming out of the jamboree, the offense definitely ran better through Josiah, but we're probably a more dangerous team if he is out there so Steven can throw the ball around.
"That is going to be our plan all year long. We are going to throw two quarterbacks as long as they are both being productive ... If you could combine the two of them, that's what you want."
Johnson added 97 rushing yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
The Mules finished with 253 rushing yards and 325 yards of total offense while limiting Sumner to 110 rushing yards and 128 yards of offense. They averaged 7.67 yards per carry, with Kilgore nearly averaging 20 yards a carry.
In the first half, Sumner managed 23 yards of offense. Against Poplar Bluff's second team, Sumner went 57 yards on nine plays for its only scoring drive.
Its next three drives amounted to five total plays -- two lost fumbles on bad snaps and the end of the game.
"It is hard to gauge a whole lot off of this game because Sumner, their numbers aren't good, we got after them pretty quick and it's a long ride," Sievers said. "The kids played well. I have got to say that their effort was pretty good tonight."