Poplar Bluff football held its annual banquet Monday and this year's Mule Skinner Award, which goes to someone in the community who goes above and beyond for the football team without expecting anything in return, was given to Chris Smith and Lucas Edington.
Both former Mules, Smith (Mozark Media) helped sponsor Thursday's pre-game meal during the final two weeks of the of the season, among other contributions. Edington (Mossy Oak Properties) helped sponsor the final Thursday meal of the season along with Smith, among other contributions, and repeatedly allowed the Poplar Bluff coaching staff to borrow his van.
"They've both been big financial guys behind the scenes for us this year. I don't know how many miles we've put on Lucas' van because we don't have a van through the school we can use on game nights. I guess we wore it out because he had a van that he sold and got a new one," Poplar Bluff coach David Sievers said. "(Chris and Lucas) are wonderful people ... "In a very good way, coach Smith is full of himself. We are going to take serious advantage of everything he has got for us and we are going to go from there."
Derland Moore Award
Wyatt Lazalier, Sr.
Presented to the player who best exemplifies sacrifice and hard work, Lazalier finished with 44 total tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. He also played along the offensive line and special teams, rarely coming off the field.
"This guys has made himself into a wonderful football player," Sievers said. "This guy played both sides of the ball, he did everything we asked of him. If he wasn't on the first team offense he was playing scout team defense. If he wasn't playing first team defense he was on scout team offense."
Johnny Piper Award
Xzavier Bartlett, Sr.
Presented to the player who best attributes the competitive spirit, Bartlett had 12 tackles, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery as a defensive back. He returned four kicks for 116 yards and caught 12 passes for 118 yards.
"I think he beat me here to practice a few times. Always the first one here and last one out," Poplar Bluff assistant coach Jeff Mannon said.
Harwell Sportsmanship Award Ben Norwood, Sr.
Presented to the player who best inspired others. An offensive lineman, Norwood helped the Mules average 5.11 yards per carry.
"This young man was inspiration to barber shops everywhere as well as to our team," coach John David Pattillo said, referencing Norwood's long hair.
Most Valuable Player
Shemyron Townsend, Jr.
Townsend, in his first year with the team, became Poplar Bluff's biggest threat. He finished the season with 1,424 all-purpse yards to lead the team. He had 810 rushing yards (8.10 avg.) and 12 touchdowns, 672 return yards, including both a punt return and a kick return for a touchdown, a pick-6, and six catches for 42 yards.
"This award was well-earned this year," Pattillo said. "A lot of things this young man could do. He played five different positions throughout the year. He even took some snaps at quarterback."
Captains
Chris Barker, Sr., Xzavier Bartlett, Sr., Wyatt Lazalier, Sr.
"These three guys were the biggest vote getters (by the players) and it really wasn't that close," Sievers said.
Along with Lazalier and Barlett, whose stats were mentioned above, Barker had 23 tackles, a sack, and an interception for a touchdown. He also caught 11 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Billy Johnson Award - Justin Mitchell, Fr.
"Billy was one of those kids where everything was competitive, said Mannon, who played for the Mules with Johnson. "He never did anything half speed. He was always one of those people you just tried to keep up with."
Offensive Line Award - Wyatt Lazalier, Sr.
"He reminds me a lot of me," Sievers said. "Not the most physically gifted, not the most anything you want to throw out there, but this guy got the name "The Warrior" because he never left the field. He played offense, he played defense, he was on special teams early. And what I liked about him is, if we were running first team offense and I'd rotate him over, he'd go play on scout team defense. He just loved playing football and he has made a lot of himself from a football standpoint ... he is a perfect example of what hard work will do for you."
Defensive Line Award - Kendric Gordon, Sr.
"He was a very disruptive force for us on the defensive line. We developed a certain stunt up front where he had to stunt two gaps down," assistant coach Todd Cabral said. "I remember during the Farmington game, they were running (an option) during the game and Kendric busted into the backfield and grabbed the running back and the quarterback at the same time. He didn't know who had the ball, so he just decided, 'I'm going to tackle both of them.' So he grabbed the running back with one hand and the quarterback with the other and pulled them both down. I had never seen that before."
Gordon had 31 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss that cost opposing teams 28 yards.
Defensive Back Award - Xzavier Bartlett, Sr.
"Hardest worker we have on the team, by far," assistant coach Lance Bell said. "In practice, it was in the middle of two-a-days and I'm leaving. I look down on the field and there is somebody doing wind sprints down the field with the sleds on his back. I'm like, 'Who is that. What is he doing.' We just got done with a full practice and he's going wind sprints with sleds. I had to go down there and talk to him. 'You need to chill out. I love your work ethic. But you're fine. You don't need to be doing that after practice.' I've been with him now for four years and he is a great kid. I'd adopt him if I could."
Offensive Back Award - Isaiah Johnson, Sr.
"I really enjoyed coaching this individual. Being new to the program, he showed me most of the plays in practice. Kinda taught me more than anything. It has been a pleasure coaching him and we are sure going to miss him," assistant coach Josh Olsen said.
Johnson had 133 carries for 746 yards (5.61 avg). and five touchdowns on the season. When the Mules had a late lead and needed to grind the clock, they gave the ball to Johnson.
Linebacker Award - Cameron Sweeney, Sr.
"This goes to a kid who probably was an example for the last three years of how not to do drills, to this year being a kid who shows others how to do them right," Mannon said. "He has come a long way, was a kid who was a career backup until this year he came out and had a chance to start for us. Really came on as a player and made himself pretty good this year."
Sweeney led Poplar Bluff in tackles with 58. He also had 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and a pass breakup.
Receiver Award - Chad Casey, Sr.
"The neat thing to see is when your leading receiver today, I think was squatting 360 pounds or something like that," Pattillo said. "He was on the power clean board, I think he leads our team in the power clean, I think it was 285. It is nice to have a receiver who can lead the team in the weight room. That is kind of neat, too."
Casey finished with 17 catches to lead the team and was second in yards with 213.
Most Improved Award- Preston Taylor, So.
"He worked really hard in the weight room for us. His attendance in the weight room was really good. He actually did a lot as far as the scout team goes. Whenever we needed somebody out there," Todd Cabral said. "He was a lot more coachable and took football a lot more serious when he took a starting role for us ... We saw a lot of improvement out of him. He became a lot more aggressive. I remember one play during the Oakville game where he bench pressed a guy off of him who was trying to block him, and he just shoved him around like a rag doll and made the play at the same time."
Taylor played sparingly early in the season, then posted back-to-back weeks of 10-plus tackles. He eventually finished with 34 tackles to finish sixth on the team. He also had five tackles for loss, a sack and a pass deflection.
Scout Team Award -- Gavin Hays, So.
"Running that scout team means, as good as you play on scout team, that is what you are going to see at the next level. You have to take it a little serious and you have to get cranked up," assistant coach Jeff Schuchardt said. "Gavin Hays, he kept on plugging every day, every day, every day, every day ... We thought he did a great job."
Hays also had one catch for 12 yards and six tackles for the varsity team.
Special Teams Award - Shemyron Townsend, Jr.
Townsend returned 20 kicks for 573 yards, including one for 90 yards and a touchdown, and six punts for 99 yards and a touchdown.